Joan Peterson is adamant that
This is not true. She goes on to add
Here’s where we see the man behind the curtain. Note the weasel words, “Where the victim-offender relationship could be identified.” That means if the relationship was unknown, they dropped them from the data pool. Does that make sense?
Let’s look at the last few years worth of FBI Uniform Crime Reports. Click on the date to get the original in the FBI UCR reports for that year. Click the graph to embiggify.
 |
| 2004 (scroll down for chart) |
 |
| 2005 |
 |
| 2006 |
 |
| 2007 |
 |
| 2008 |
 |
| 2009
|
Note the list of “Other Known” relationships that exist. Family is blood or marriage related. Friend, Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Neighbor, Employer, and Employee all have separate sub-categories. See how the sub-category of “Acquaintance” makes up the largest single sub-category? Who would be an “Acquaintance?” Basically, anyone you know for any reason that does not fit into another category. Your drug dealer, pimp, prostitute, or anyone else you know even slightly.
This is how the numbers are used to subtly lie to you. Instead of saying that, on average, somewhere between 15 and 18% of all murders are between family members or intimate partners, they claim that, X percentage “know each other.” This leads you to imagine that husbands are murdering their wives, kids are being slaughtered, and cousins are having duels at high noon in the streets.
Let’s look at the numbers in tabular form
|
Year
|
Husband
|
Wife
|
Mother
|
Father
|
Son
|
Daughter
|
Brother
|
Sister
|
Other Family
|
Total Family
|
|
2004
|
149
|
579
|
121
|
110
|
233
|
212
|
86
|
31
|
283
|
1804
|
|
2005
|
135
|
594
|
123
|
118
|
245
|
190
|
100
|
21
|
297
|
1823
|
|
2006
|
123
|
567
|
115
|
114
|
283
|
179
|
80
|
22
|
298
|
1781
|
|
2007
|
138
|
573
|
94
|
107
|
240
|
235
|
93
|
26
|
264
|
1770
|
|
2008
|
119
|
577
|
117
|
120
|
270
|
211
|
98
|
15
|
314
|
1841
|
|
2009
|
141
|
609
|
131
|
116
|
247
|
201
|
94
|
35
|
281
|
1855
|
|
Year
|
Acquaintance
|
Friend
|
Boyfriend
|
Girlfriend
|
Neighbor
|
Employee
|
Employer
|
Total Other Known
|
|
2004
|
3233
|
304
|
147
|
445
|
110
|
7
|
10
|
4256
|
|
2005
|
3210
|
324
|
152
|
461
|
86
|
4
|
6
|
4243
|
|
2006
|
3465
|
339
|
150
|
450
|
127
|
13
|
10
|
4554
|
|
2007
|
3061
|
483
|
150
|
471
|
110
|
5
|
9
|
4289
|
|
2008
|
3068
|
504
|
145
|
492
|
106
|
5
|
9
|
4329
|
|
2009
|
2941
|
404
|
138
|
472
|
132
|
12
|
20
|
4119
|
|
Year
|
Stranger
|
Unknown
|
Total
|
Family or Intimate Partner Percentage
|
|
|
2004
|
1827
|
6234
|
14121
|
16.97%
|
|
|
2005
|
2070
|
6724
|
14860
|
16.39%
|
|
|
2006
|
1905
|
6750
|
14990
|
15.88%
|
|
|
2007
|
1924
|
6848
|
14831
|
16.12%
|
|
|
2008
|
1742
|
6268
|
14180
|
17.48%
|
|
|
2009
|
1676
|
5986
|
13636
|
18.08%
|
The last column is labled “Family or Intimate Partner.” This includes boyfriends and girlfriends with all the “Family” numbers. As you can see, there is no way that “most” murders occur as a result of a domestic dispute.
Why do we care? When people use generalizations like, “Most homicides are among people who know each other,” they are attempting to create the impression in your mind that average people suddenly snap and become murderers. This is a lie, and a big one. The reason they lie like this is to make you believe that the average person cannot be trusted with a gun. If normal, average people suddenly snap and murder their families, then normal, average people cannot be trusted with guns.
The reality is murder is such a bad crime and so morally wrong that people rarely start out their criminal career by committing murder. They almost always work up to it. Ordinary, average citizens are not hotheads. They don’t commit murder just because they “lose their head.”
When people repeat this lie, they are insulting you and every other normal, average person. Don’t let it go unchallenged.
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