In another 28% of murders committed with firearms, local police agencies did not specify the type used when reporting those cases to the FBI. And in at least 64% of those cases, the firearm was a handgun. However, those figures still fail to back up his claim.įirearms were used to commit 73% of all murders in 2017, FBI data show. If Kinzinger was referring to the share of firearm homicides that involve a handgun instead of murders overall, he would have gotten a little closer to the mark. We asked Kinzinger’s office to explain the discrepancy, but did not receive a response. In 2017, the latest year for which figures on murder weapons were available, handguns were used in 46% of all homicides - far from the 97% Kinzinger cited. To assess Kinzinger’s claim, we turned to data catalogued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A significant share, but nowhere near 97% Even so, Kinzinger significantly stretched the facts by claiming handguns are used to commit nearly all murders.

Most murders are committed with firearms, a majority of them handguns, federal data show.

“I mean, look, I think it’s like 97% of murders occur with handguns. (Mike) Turner from the Dayton area, he’s now saying he's ready to vote for banning the assault rifles,” said Flannery, referencing Dayton, Ohio, where a recent shooting left nine people dead. Now, he is now advocating for universal background checks, along with laws to make it easier for authorities to take guns from unstable individuals, raise the legal age of purchase for all firearms to 21 and ban some large-capacity magazines.īut he won’t yet go so far as to support a ban on assault-style weapons like the semi-automatic rifles used in recent mass shootings, a point he was asked to address in an interview with Fox 32’s Mike Flannery. In February, he voted against a bipartisan House bill to expand background checks for gun purchases. Kinzinger represents Illinois’ 16th district, a 14-county area that wraps around Chicagoland from Wisconsin to Indiana.

In the wake of mass shootings in California, Texas and Ohio, and continued summer violence in Chicago, Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger has come out in favor of some gun restriction measures.

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