An annual report by the FBI released today shows the use of firearms in murders and nonnegligent manslaughters in the District to be slightly higher than the national average.
Of the 132 reported homicides in the District in 2010, firearms were used in 99 of them, or approximately 75 percent. Nationally, firearms were used in 67.5 percent of homicides in 2010, the FBI reported.
Of the firearms used in DC homicides, 32 were handguns and the rest were unidentified. Knives and cutting instruments accounted for approximately 15 percent of homicides, and hands, fists, etc, accounted for about four percent. A remaining five percent of homicide weapons was classified as “other.”
MPD recovered 2,213 firearms in 2010, the fewest since 2005 when 2,165 were recovered. The total number of homicides, however, continued to decline. In 2010, 132 homicides were reported. In 2009 thee were 144 and in 2008, 186.
