US murder rate rises 30% putting spotlight on Biden policy

Gun crime is helping push US murder rates to record highs

Attendees sign up at the National Rifle Association (NRA) booth at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S. Reuters

The Martin B. Retting gun shop in Culver City, California. AFP

Guests shop for firearms and accessories at the 148th NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Indianapolis, Indiana. AFP

Remington firearms sit on a rack at the National Rifle Association's (NRA) annual meeting, in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., April 28, 2019. Reuters

Black Lives Matter activists and community members talk with a man in a Make America Great Again hat who had been driving a truck with pro Second Amendment signage on it at the Robert E. Lee monument, while earlier others rallied with guns outside of the Virginia State Capitol, on Lobby Day, a day traditionally set aside for the public to lobby lawmakers, in Richmond, Virginia, U.S. Reuters

Tom Cai shows off a long gun at Jimmy's Sport Shop in Mineola, New York. AFP

Stickers reading "Guns save lives" are put on a food drive sign as armed people stand on a corner near the Virginia State Capitol while a caravan of cars drives by in support of second amendment rights, in Richmond, Virginia, U.S. Reuters

Violent crime in the US soared during 2020, with murders up 30 per cent for the year. The figures represent the first significant rise in crime since 2017, the FBI said.

Figures from the US law enforcement agency also show that gun violence was driving the crime-related death rate, with 76 per cent of murders being committed using firearms, up three per cent on 2019.

Some areas witnessed a particularly sharp rise: in Houston, gun violence rose from 221 murders in 2019 to 343 in 2020.

The figures are likely to revive a passionate debate on gun control in the US, which has become one of President Joe Biden’s key domestic policies.

Gun control and community policing

The president has already used executive orders to crack down on untraceable weapons, so-called “ghost guns”. Mr Biden is also pushing for greater controls on automatic rifles, or “assault rifles”, and was a supporter of the ban on high capacity magazines for automatic rifles, aimed to reduce the death toll in mass shootings.

The figures could also raise debate on Mr Biden’s pledge to reform policing in the US, following his proposed election campaign policy of allocating more funds for Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS. The idea behind COPs is to take a more holistic approach to local crime, prioritising better relations between police services and the community.

Additional federal funds could be used for “more police officers, more nurses, more counsellors, more social workers or community violence interrupters to help resolve issues before they escalate into crimes,” Mr Biden said in June.

Overall violent crime was up 5.6 per cent to nearly 1.3 million incidents, although property crime fell 7.8 per cent to nearly 6.5 million incidents, marking the 18th consecutive year that property crimes have decreased, the FBI said.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting programme collects data reported by law enforcement agencies across the country.

The Democratic president, who has long-standing ties to law enforcement, has also announced steps to hold rogue firearms dealers accountable for breaking federal laws and help states hire more police officers using Covid-19 rescue funds.