The most recent FBI crime stats show that more people were killed in 2017 with hammers and clubs than were killed with rifles of any kind.
Experts reported the most recent numbers–those for 2017–on September 26, 2018. Those figures showed that 467 people were killed with “blunt objects (hammers, clubs, etc.),” while 403 were killed with rifles.
And it must be noted that the category of “rifles” used by the FBI includes bolt action, pump action, single shot, and semi-automatic, as well as those the left describes as “assault weapons.” This means only a percentage of the 403 deaths attributed to “rifles” would have been carried out with an “assault weapon.” So the gap between the number of persons beaten to death with hammers and clubs verses those killed with “assault weapons” would be even greater than the gap between those who died in a hammer/club attack versus those who died being shot with “rifles” of any kind.
Experts also reported that the 2017 crime figures showed 1,591 people were killed with “knives or cutting instruments” while 403 were killed with “rifles.” This means nearly four times as many people were stabbed to death as were killed with any kind of rifle. (The gap between the number stabbed to death and the number of persons explicitly killed with an “assault weapon” would be even greater.)
Yet Democrats are pushing an “assault weapons” ban and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says legislation for such a ban will be “front and center” when the Senate reconvenes.