The FBI violence stats for 2013 are out. [View all]

I'm particularly interested in Table 20, Murder by State and Type of Weapon, because of its relevance to rifle and magazine bans. For percentages, go here, download the Excel version, and sum the columns.

Murder, by State and Type of Weapon, 2013 (FBI)

[font face="courier new"]Total murders...................... 12,253
Handguns............................ 5,782 (47.2%)
Firearms (type unknown)............. 2,079 (17.0%)
Clubs, rope, fire, etc.............. 1,622 (13.2%)
Knives and other cutting weapons.... 1,490 (12.2%)
Hands, fists, feet.................... 687 (5.6%)
Shotguns.............................. 308 (2.5%)
Rifles................................ 285 (2.3%)[/font]


2012 and 2010, for comparison:


Murder, by State and Type of Weapon, 2012 (FBI)

[font face="courier new"]Total murders...................... 12,711
Handguns............................ 8,813 (49.9%)
Firearms (type unknown)............. 1,848 (14.5%)
Clubs, rope, fire, etc.............. 1,637 (12.9%)
Knives and other cutting weapons.... 1,583 (12.5%)
Hands, fists, feet.................... 678 (5.3%)
Rifles................................ 320 (2.5%)
Shotguns.............................. 302 (2.4%)[/font]


Murder, by State and Types of Weapons, 2010 (FBI)

[font face="courier new"]Total murders...........................12,996
Handguns.................................6,009 (46.2%)
Firearms (type unknown)..................2,035 (15.7%)
Clubs, rope, fire, etc...................1,772 (13.6%)
Edged weapons............................1,704 (13.1%)
Hands, feet, etc...........................745 (5.7%)
Shotguns...................................373 (2.9%)
Rifles.....................................358 (2.8%)[/font]


The 9-year trend in rifle homicides, 2005-2013:

[font face="courier new"]2005: 442
2006: 436
2007: 450
2008: 375
2009: 348
2010: 358
2011: 323
2012: 302
2013: 285[/font]

And it's not just rifle homicide that's down over the years; *all* homicide is down over the last decade, even those by fists and feet. Good news all around. The declines in individual categories are probably exaggerated a little by the growth in the "type unknown" category (apparently some departments didn't get their paperwork in...) but the overall totals are down so the declines are real, just a little smaller than the raw category numbers would suggest.