June 19, 2013

Politics

If you want to end gun deaths, don’t start with rifles

BY: TIMOTHY P. CARNEY DECEMBER 20, 2012 | 2:28 PM
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Politicians and the media these days are focused on the AR-15. This is a powerful semiautomatic (meaning you don’t have to manually cock or load it after each shot) rifle.

Yes, massacres tend to be done with weapons like this. But not most gun murders in the U.S.: a vast majority of gun murders in the U.S. are committed with a handgun.

This is important, because plenty of people these days are looking to draw a line between guns needed for legitimate purposes, such as self-defense, and guns used for killing people. Looks like they’re the same.

You are more likely to be killed with someone’s “hands/feet/fists” than a rifle.

See the chart below, taken from FBI data.

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Timothy P. Carney

Senior Political Columnist
The Washington Examiner

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