Criminals use an array of weapons to commit their crimes, according to FBI statistics two of the most commonly used weapons by criminals are guns and knives.
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is used to track what weapons, if any at all, was used in violent crimes. After a violent crime takes place, the victim is asked if the criminal used any form of weapons.
The 2009 statistics from NCVS showed contains some interesting information in regards to what weapons and how often weapons were used in crimes.
| 22% of criminals were armed with a knife, gun, or other object in all violent crimes. | ||||
| 8% of violent crimes during 2009 contained the use of a firearm by the criminal. | ||||
| 47% of all robberies had an armed criminal, the highest of all crimes. | ||||
| 28% of robberies were committed using a firearm. | ||||
| Contrary to popular belief, most rape and assault were committed without the use of a weapon by the criminal. |
Weapons Used In Crimes Table
| Criminal's weapon | Violent crime% | Rape/sexual assault | Robbery% | Simple/ aggravated assault% |
| No weapon | 73 | 85 | 48 | 76 |
| Firearm | 8 | (--)(*) | 28 | 5 |
| Knife | 6 | 8(*) | 9 | 5 |
| Other | 7 | 2(*) | 8 | 7 |
| Uncategorized | 2 | (--)(*) | 2(*) | 1 |
| *Based up 10 or fewer sample cases. | ||||
| --Less than 0.5%. | ||||