US gun law facts from the UK

Some interesting gun facts from our friends in the UK. Data here

In 2011 - the latest year for which detailed statistics are available - there were 12,664 murders in the US. Of those, 8,583 were caused by firearms.

The FBI crime statistics are based on reports to FBI bureau and local law enforcement. The figures are not complete - there are no stats for Florida or Alabama on firearm murders. But even so it provides a detailed picture of attacks by state.

In fact, gun crime, like all crime across the US (and the UK, for that matter), is going down - you can see how much in the graph above. And the vast majority invlove firearms.


The figures show that California had the highest number of gun murders last year - 1,790, which is 68% of all murders that year and equivalent to 3.25 per 100,000 people in the state. Big as that figure is, it's still down by 3% on the previous year. Other key findings include:

• While gun crime is down in the vast majority of states, it is up in Indiana, Arkansas, North Carolina, Louisiana and several of the smaller states
• If you look at the firearms murder rate per 100,000 people, District of Columbia comes out top - with 12 firearms murders per 100,000 men, women and children in the state. There were 77 firearms murders in DC in 2010, down 22% on 2009
• DC is followed by Louisiana (10.16) and Mississippi (7.46)
• DC is also top for firearms robberies per 100,000 people - with 242.56
• If you look at aggravated assaults involving a firearm, Tennessee (137.58) and South Carolina (127.88) come above Arkansas (100.56)

Folks more people are killed drunk driving. .  .On average, one person died every 48 minutes in 2009 due to an alcohol-impaired driver.  why don't we ban cars?  ( that is 10950 confirmed drunk driving deaths in 2009) And many of those murdered with guns are criminal on criminal crime - gangs and such.  Don't let pols off easy - gun control is not the answer.

Also please note that DC is still very hard to get a gun, use to be impossible and you can not carry one legally outside your home.  CA has the harshest gun laws in the union. . . and still has the most murders. . .  Gun laws don't work.