Twice as Many Murders with Hands and Feet as 'Assault Rifles'

Assault weapons have become the focal point of the White House’s gun control efforts in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. But each year, more Americans are murdered using knives, fists and feet, and blunt instruments.

Approximately 6,220 people were murdered using handguns – firearms which will not be addressed in the White House’s sponsored legislation. So-called assault rifles were used in just 323 murders – about one-fifth of knife murders, and one half of bodily appendage murders.

Nonetheless, President Obama will continue to press forward with his anti-assault rifle agenda. Incrementalism, after all, has to start somewhere.