32 Officers Killed by Gunfire in 2013, Lowest Number Since 1887

Gun Watch ^ | 1 January, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

There is some coverage of this number, which varies quite a bit from year to year.   The number being shown is 33, but that appears to include one accident.  The trend is down, though not as much as the homicide rate in general.   It is clear that the number of citizen owned guns is not linked to the number of police killed with guns.  While the number of guns in the hands of the public has soared, and the number of people legally carrying firearms has skyrocketed, crime is down, homicides are down, and then number of police murdered with guns is down.  

The public has been on a buying binge for semi-automatic rifles, such as the AR-15, which has become the most popular rifle in America after the "assault weapon ban" lapsed in 2004, and especially since 2008.   From 1995 to 2004, during the "ban", the number of police murdered with guns averaged 58.1 officers per year, from 2005 to 2013, after the "ban" lapsed, the number averaged 51.6 per year.  

This is not surprising.  Rifles are seldom used to murder, and semiautomatic rifles, while very popular, are a minority of all rifles.  Hands and feet are used to murder twice as often as rifles are.

Three of the police murdered with firearms in 2013 were killed by a former police officer bent on revenge for perceived corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department.

 The number of police killed while on duty, from antebellum times to present, are on this website.


©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

The number of police murdered with guns varies considerably from year to year. The highest numbers were during prohibition, reaching 200 killed in 1921.

[3Fingas]

The population of the US back then was less than 100 million, 1/3 of today’s current population.

1921. Interesting. Bonnie and Clyde were responsible for contributing to that number.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

[JRandomFreeper]

There are a lot more cops per capita than there was in the late 1800s.

/johnny

[KosmicKitty]

Perhaps a change in procedure

At the Sandy Hook school shooting - the first officer on the scene parked 1/4 of a mile away and waited for back-up before proceeding

Perhaps in 1940 - the first officer would have raced to the scene and tried to subdue the shooter alone.

[TurboZamboni]

Obviously fishermen need MRAPs.

[glyptol]

Ahat a concept.

[glyptol]

What. Wrong key. Or maybe subconscious.

[marktwain]

“There are a lot more cops per capita than there was in the late 1800s.”

Yes, hard to find those numbers to give per capita figures.

I looked at some of the “police” deaths in the 1830’s. They included citizen militias fighting Comanche war parties in Texas. One of the incidents told of Chief Buffalo Hump being killed in a battle in 1839, I think. Texas was not even part of the United States yet. In all the incidents, the Texans were shown to be giving better than they got from the Comanches, contrary to the “Lonesome Dove” book, that treated the white men as fools.

Of course, those who are literate write the histories.

[spincaster]

This is Interesting, no mention on how many unarmed innocent civilians were killed by the so called good guys. I would like to see that statistic. As a kid growing up I thought the Police were the good guys. I have found out that is not true at all!

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

One statistic that is very reserved and prone to abuse is police suicides. Finally there is a website that at least mentions the common misconceptions and myths, but ‘justifying’, that is, correcting the statistics, is going to take a major effort.

http://www.badgeoflife.com/currentmyths.php

An associated statistic that is even harder to figure out is how many police suicides and homicides are done with their own gun? But it is vital to know this.

In the 1970s, because of a handful of police assassinations in the US, exclusively by leftist terrorist criminals, police changed their gun doctrines from “Old West” to “SWAT”. This meant brandishing their gun far more often.

And brandishing a gun, logically, should increase the chances of losing control of that gun in a brawl. Many violent people the police meet in the course of their duties want to brawl, often so blind with drink or drugs that they are unaware a gun is pointed at them.

So *if* more officers are killed by their own guns, it would seem to indicate that using SWAT tactics has a fatal flaw, and police should consider returning to Old West tactics.

[riverrunner]

In 1921 they would have been 11 and 12 years of age. Their crime spree wasn’t until the 30’s

[Rebelbase]

I bet the number would be higher if dogs could shoot back.

[Blood of Tyrants]

And Prohibition worked just as well as the WOD.

[saleman]

“Just wanting to go home to their families” must be working. Wonder how many citizens were executed without a trial by the police? Surely there is a way to find out.

Funny. The cop apologists’ would have you believe that 33 cops were being blown away every day. But, this does go to show how dangerous being a cop is. Not very.

Not surprising when you consider that the average cop outguns most everybody he would come in contact with. It strikes me as odd that a traffic stop is considered dangerous when the cop approaches from behind, armed with a pistol, baton, pepper spray and a knife and considers himself at a disadvantage to “Joe Citizen”. Protect and Serve. My Ass......

[dragnet2]

Wonder how many citizens were executed without a trial by the police? Surely there is a way to find out.

What is interesting, is government likes to compile statistics on everything...Not to mention illegally spy on and monitor the law abiding.

But just try to find out how many American citizens have been killed, injured, robbed, raped, shot, knifed, conned, burglarized and ran over by illegal aliens, due to government failing to protect and secure our borders.

Just try to find government statistics regarding how many law abiding innocent have been killed by law enforcement each year..

[usurper]

So *if* more officers are killed by their own guns, it would seem to indicate that using SWAT tactics has a fatal flaw, and police should consider returning to Old West tactics.

Two and a half feet of fine hickory up-side the head works much better than pointing a gun at a fighting drunk but they took away the battons and replaced them with pepper spray and tazers with frequently just makes drunks really mad.

[hattend]

How many family pets were killed?

[3Fingas]

Thanks for the correction. I am gonna have to blame encroaching senility on that one.