Sheriff Joe
DA
I will educate you,
Fact Check: Are Most Gun Crimes Committed With Handguns?
- Emily Larsen
"When you look at the statistics, many, many, many more shootings occur with a pistol than they do with a rifle,” Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., says. (Photo: Prathaan/Getty Images)
Sen. James Lankford said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that at least three times as many crimes are committed with handguns than with rifles.
Verdict: True
Handguns are used in about nine times as many murders and eight times as many nonfatal violent crimes than rifles, shotguns, and other firearms combined.
Fact Check:
Lankford, R-Okla., pointed out Sunday the high proportion of crimes committed with handguns after “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd pressed him on whether the AR-15, the weapon used in the Parkland, Florida, shooting, should remain classified as a rifle.
“So there are three or four, five times as many crimes committed with a handgun than there are with a rifle. So we can have that conversation. But when you look at the statistics, many, many, many more shootings occur with a pistol than they do with a rifle,” Lankford said.
His office pointed The Daily Caller News Foundation to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Reporting on firearms used in murders. By that measure, Lankford is right that handguns are used much more often than rifles.
>>> See Charts: Number of Firearm Murders by Firearm Type and Nonfatal Criminal Firearm Violence
Handguns were used in 19 times as many murders than rifles were in 2016, according to the Uniform Crime Reporting data. Handguns killed nine times as many persons as rifles, shotguns, and other guns did combined. The type of firearm used was unknown for about 28 percent of all firearm murders.
