FBI: Violent crime, murder, on the rise for the second straight year

By Brian Seay

Violent crime in America increased for the second straight year in 2016, according to the FBI’s annual crime report released Monday.
The estimated number of violent crimes across the country rose by 4.1 percent last year compared to the year before. According to the 2016 Crime in the United States report, murder and negligent manslaughter rose by 8.6 percent in the same time period.
As estimated 10.7 million arrests were made last year, according to the data. More than 156,000 people were arrested for weapons violations, and nearly 12,000 people were arrested for murder. The estimates come from data submitted by 16,782 law enforcement agencies nationwide.
There were an estimated 17,250 murders nationwide last year, up from 15,883 in 2015. Guns are increasingly the weapon used to commit murders in America, according to the data. In 2014, guns were used in 67.7 percent of murders nationwide, where data was available and submitted. In 2015, it rose to 71.1 percent. Last year, 73 percent of murders committed were done so with a firearm.
Justifiable homicide, defined as “the killing of a felon by a law enforcement officer in the line of duty” was down last year compared to 2015. There were 435 justifiable killings in 2016

Source: Guns.com