The full gun violence stats for 2014 are out (FBI UCR). [View all]

As always, it's helpful to compare reality with the rhetoric. The FBI murder stats for 2014:


Murder, by State and Type of Weapon, 2014 (FBI)

[font face="courier new"]Total murders...................... 11,961
Handguns............................ 5,562 (46.5%)
Firearms (type unknown)............. 2,052 (17.2%)
Clubs, rope, fire, etc.............. 1,610 (13.5%)
Knives and other cutting weapons.... 1,567 (13.1%)
Hands, fists, feet.................... 660 (5.5%)
Shotguns.............................. 262 (2.2%)
Rifles................................ 248 (2.1%) [/font]

All the gun violence categories show a slight decrease compared to 2013. Looks like the only category that increased from 2013 to 2014 was murders using blades. Here are the 2013 figures:

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]

That continues a 20-year trend of declining gun violence, which is now roughly half of what it was in the early 1990s.

As usual, I'll point out that almost all "assault weapons" fall into the Rifles category, making them among the least misused of all weapons in the United States, despite their popularity.