Murder victims by weapon used in the U.S 2020

Handguns are by far the most common murder weapon used in the United States, accounting for 8,029 homicides in 2020. This is followed by firearms of an unstated type, with 4,863 cases in that year.

Why do murders happen in the U.S.?

While most of the time the circumstances of murders in the U.S. remain unknown, homicides due to narcotics come in as the second most common circumstance – making them more common than, for example, gang killings. Despite these gruesome facts, the violent crime rate has fallen significantly since 1990, and the United States is much safer than it was in the 1980s and 1990s.

Knife crime vs cancer: Leading causes of death

The death rate in the U.S. has hovered around the same level since 1990. Heart disease, cancer, and chronic lower respiratory diseases were the three leading causes of death in the country in 2018. The rate of death by cancer is significantly higher than the homicide rate in the United States, at 149.1 deaths per 100,000 population compared to a 6.5 homicides per 100,000. Given just 1,739 murders are caused by knife crime, it is fair to say that cancer is a far bigger killer in the U.S.