Bureau of Justice Statistics Estimated Firearm crime Murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults in which firearms were used, numbers of offenses and rates per 100,000 population, 1973 to 1999 Total firearm Murders with Robberies Aggravated assaults crimes firearms with firearms with firearms Year Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate Number Rate 1973 361,141 172.1 13,072 6.2 241,088 114.9 106,981 51.0 1974 326,235 154.3 13,987 6.6 197,257 93.3 114,991 54.4 1975 342,495 160.7 13,496 6.3 208,307 97.7 120,693 56.6 1976 307,252 143.1 11,982 5.6 179,430 83.6 115,841 54.0 1977 301,590 139.4 11,950 5.5 168,418 77.9 121,222 56.0 1978 307,603 141.1 12,437 5.7 170,152 78.0 125,015 57.3 1979 340,202 154.6 13,582 6.2 185,352 84.2 141,269 64.2 1980 392,083 174.0 14,377 6.4 221,170 98.1 156,535 69.5 1981 396,197 172.9 14,052 6.1 230,226 100.5 151,918 66.3 1982 372,477 160.9 12,648 5.5 214,219 92.5 145,609 62.9 1983 330,419 141.2 11,258 4.8 183,581 78.5 135,580 57.9 1984 329,232 139.4 10,990 4.7 173,634 73.5 144,609 61.2 1985 340,942 142.8 11,141 4.7 175,748 73.6 154,052 64.5 1986 376,064 156.0 12,181 5.1 186,174 77.2 177,710 73.7 1987 365,709 150.3 11,879 4.9 170,841 70.2 182,989 75.2 1988 385,934 157.0 12,553 5.1 181,352 73.8 192,029 78.1 1989 410,039 165.2 13,416 5.4 192,006 77.3 204,618 82.4 1990 492,671 198.1 15,025 6.0 233,973 94.1 243,673 98.0 1991 548,667 217.6 16,376 6.5 274,404 108.8 257,887 102.3 1992 565,575 221.7 16,204 6.4 271,009 106.2 278,362 109.1 1993 581,697 225.5 17,048 6.6 279,738 108.5 284,910 110.5 1994 542,529 208.4 16,314 6.3 257,428 98.9 268,788 103.2 1995 504,421 192.0 14,686 5.6 238,023 90.6 251,712 95.8 1996 458,458 172.8 13,319 5.0 218,579 82.4 226,559 85.4 1997 414,530 154.9 12,346 4.6 197,686 73.9 204,498 76.4 1998 364,776 135.0 10,977 4.1 170,611 63.1 183,188 67.8 1999 338,535 124.1 10,128 3.7 163,458 59.9 164,949 60.5 * Crimes included are murder, robbery, and aggravated assault Note: These numbers are estimates calculated from the data presented below which are from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports as published annually in Crime in the United States. Percent of murders, robberies, and aggravated assaults in which firearms were used, 1973 to 1999 Total for selected crimes Murders Robberies Aggravated assaults Percent Percent Percent Percent with with with with Year Number firearms Number firearms Number firearms Number firearms % % % % 1973 818,460 44.1 19,510 67.0 382,680 63.0 416,270 25.7 1974 914,610 35.7 20,600 67.9 441,290 44.7 452,720 25.4 1975 970,190 35.3 20,510 65.8 464,970 44.8 484,710 24.9 1976 929,840 33.0 18,780 63.8 420,210 42.7 490,850 23.6 1977 946,480 31.9 19,120 62.5 404,850 41.6 522,510 23.2 1978 994,695 30.9 19,555 63.6 417,038 40.8 558,102 22.4 1979 1,102,550 30.9 21,456 63.3 466,881 39.7 614,213 23.0 1980 1,226,810 32.0 23,040 62.4 548,810 40.3 654,960 23.9 1981 1,240,370 31.9 22,520 62.4 574,130 40.1 643,720 23.6 1982 1,207,942 30.8 21,010 60.2 536,890 39.9 650,042 22.4 1983 1,159,060 28.5 19,310 58.3 500,220 36.7 639,530 21.2 1984 1,189,050 27.7 18,690 58.8 485,010 35.8 685,350 21.1 1985 1,240,100 27.5 18,980 58.7 497,870 35.3 723,250 21.3 1986 1,397,710 26.9 20,610 59.1 542,780 34.3 834,320 21.3 1987 1,392,890 26.3 20,100 59.1 517,700 33.0 855,090 21.4 1988 1,473,740 26.2 20,680 60.7 542,970 33.4 910,090 21.1 1989 1,551,540 26.4 21,500 62.4 578,330 33.2 951,710 21.5 1990 1,717,570 28.7 23,440 64.1 639,270 36.6 1,054,860 23.1 1991 1,805,170 30.4 24,700 66.3 687,730 39.9 1,092,740 23.6 1992 1,823,210 31.0 23,760 68.2 672,480 40.3 1,126,970 24.7 1993 1,819,390 32.0 24,530 69.5 659,760 42.4 1,135,100 25.1 1994 1,762,072 30.8 23,305 70.0 618,817 41.6 1,119,950 24.0 1995 1,701,321 29.6 21,597 68.0 580,545 41.0 1,099,179 22.9 1996 1,586,509 28.9 19,645 67.8 537,050 40.7 1,029,814 22.0 1997 1,539,943 26.9 18,208 67.8 498,534 39.7 1,023,201 20.0 1998 1,437,941 25.4 16,914 64.9 446,625 38.2 974,402 18.8 1999 1,341,586 25.2 15,533 65.2 409,670 39.9 916,383 18.0 Source: FBI, Crime in the United States, annually