Did You Know We Haven’t Been This Safe Since The 1960’s?

When looking at the national murder rate over time, we see a significant downward trend in homicide. Today we are seeing homicide rates reduced by more than half of the peak rate.

The peek homicide rate occurred in 1980 where we saw a rate of 10.22 in every 100,000 people. This is an estimated peak rate of homicide by firearm of 6.13 in every 100,000 people. The firearm estimate was determined by finding the average percentage difference between known firearm homicides and known total murders and applying that percentage recursively.

Interesting to note, until 1968, you could mail-order a firearm (even an AR-15) and have it shipped directly to your home with no background check whatsoever.

The message that is being promoted in light of this data raises questions about their motivations. It is time to think more seriously about what the Second Amendment means, and why it is becoming more and more important to consider.

In A Hurry? Get the Quick Facts

Click here to get a downloadable PDF of Gun Violence Quick Facts.

If you just want the highlights, want to share a more digestible report with others, or have some talking points for the next conversation about gun control that you have, the Quick Fact sheet should be helpful.

This document was also sent to all of our State Senators and Representatives in January of 2019 in an attempt to help them make fact based decisions when it comes to gun control legislation

Washington Homicide Statistics

In 2018 Washington State reported 2 homicides by rifle. With our annual average count of homicides by rifle being 6.71 people.

In 2018 Washington State reported a total of 138homicides by firearm. With our annual average count of homicides by firearm being 109.33 people.

In 2018 the population of Washington State was 7.4 million[1] making the rate of homicide by firearm 1.86 and the rate of homicide by rifle 0.03 in 100,000 people.

Our annual average rates of homicides by firearm are 1.72 and homicides by rifle 0.11 per 100,000 people.

Even if we include suicide by firearm we see that the mortality rate is less than that of motor vehicles.

United States Homicide Statistics

In 2018 the United States had 297 homicides by rifle (106 less than 2017). With the annual average count of homicides by rifle being 403.29 people.

In 2018 the United States had a total of 10,265homicides by firearm (717 less than 2017). With the annual average count of homicides by firearm being 9,628 people.

In 2018 the population of the United States was 327 million making the rate of homicide by firearm 3.14 and the rate of homicide by rifle 0.09 in 100,000 people.

The annual average rates of homicides by firearm are 3.25 and homicides by rifle 0.14 per 100,000 people.

Even if we include suicide by firearm we see that the mortality rate is less than that of motor vehicles.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Initiative 594

The enactment of Initiative 594 on December 4th of 2014 prevented citizens of Washington from being allowed to sell, trade, or loan each other their firearms without first conducting background checks. This was touted by the Alliance for Gun Responsibility as being critical to preventing gun violence.

We would have expected the result of it’s passage to show a reduction in the number of homicides by firearm, however we have seen the rate of homicides increase. This again raises questions about the real world impacts and effectiveness of gun control. It would seem that criminals pay it no mind.

All data was gathered from the Federal Bureau of Investiagion’s Uniform Crime Reports, the Center for Disease Control’s WISQARS database, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. All data points are independently verifiable and are sourced as well as possible to make independent verification as easy as possible. It is important to take into account the guidelines set out for the proper use of UCR statistics which it is at this time believed that this site adheres to those guidelines and principles.

Source Materials