A report from Pew Research shows that rifles, as a firearm category, account for three percent of gun murders in the U.S.
The Pew Research report is focused on 2024 data and notes that “the category…[of rifle] includes guns sometimes referred to as ‘assault weapons.’”
This means that of the three percent of U.S. homicides carried out with rifles, a portion might have been carried out with lever actions, another portion might have been carried out with bolt actions, another portion with pump actions, another with semiautomatics, and yet another with AR-15s, etc.
Question: What firearm was used most in U.S. gun murders?
Answer: Handguns.
Handguns were used in 53 percent of all U.S. gun murders in 2024.
So… rifles as whole were used in three percent of U.S. gun murders, and a portion of that three percent was carried out by people using AR-15s, AK-47s, etc. As for shotguns, they were used in one percent of U.S. gun murders.
On the other hand, pistols and revolvers were the tools of choice for over half of all U.S. gun murders, but Democrats and other leftists want to ban AR-15s to keep us safe.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. He enjoys reading Philosophy and novels by Jack Carr and Nelson DeMille. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
