Murder

The Truth About “Aggravated Assault”

In the past, attackers were usually charged with Murder if the victim died, or Attempted Murder if they survived. For whatever reason, the practice of charging attackers with either of these felonies has largely been abandoned. In fact, the FBI Uniform Crime Report no longer even has an entry for Attempted Murder. Now, if the victim dies, the charge is Murder, but if they survive it is Aggravated Assault.

Aggravated Assault simply means the victim survived an attack in which the attacker tried to kill the victim but was inept. The FBI definition of Aggravated Assault is “an unlawful attack involving a weapon or other means likely to cause death or great bodily injury”. In other words, an attacker tried to kill you, but you survived.

The murder rate in the U.S. is about 15,000 murders each year. One can conclude from that low number relative to the U.S. population of about 330 million that the odds of needing a gun are very low. This is until you take into consideration the 1,000,000 Aggravated Assaults! So that is 1 million ATTEMPTS to unlawfully kill a victim.

So why is the murder rate relatively low? It’s certainly not for the lack of trying? It’s because of modern trauma care. Modern trauma care in big cities is phenomenal. The VAST majority of people shot, stabbed or bludgeoned by criminals don’t die from their injuries. So the charges are not Murder, but Aggravated Assaults.

But the bottom line for the reclassification of surviving from Attempted Murder to Aggravated Assault is that the victim survives, but may be maimed, blind, lose a limb, be paralyzed, require multiple corrective surgeries, lose the ability to work, and other tragic consequences. But since they did not die, the crime is treated as a lesser crime than Attempted Murder.

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PA Gun Crimes

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney. Nothing in this content constitutes legal advice. If you are in need of legal advice on this matter, retain a licensed, competent attorney in your relevant jurisdiction.

As part of our ongoing mission, Dakota Firearms Training Academy wants visitors to this site to be the BEST trained, BEST educated law-biding gun owners. If you use your gun in the commission of a crime, below is the list of crimes generally associated with gun usage, and what prosecutors may possibly charge you with. Keep in mind that if you shoot someone in defense of yourself or others that your legal justification for doing so is not a legal “get out of jail free” card. It is not the absence of being charged. Rather it is a defense to being charged. So, if you are ever charged with one of the crimes listed below, secure the services of the best gun and/or self-defense lawyer you can, as your life may depend on it. Do not get Cousin Vinny. Do not get an ambulance chaser. Do not get a family member who will take your case pro bono unless they are experts in gun or self-defense law.

The severity of the possible punishment of the crime determines whether or not you lose your right to carry or possess firearms FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. For example, if you are found guilty of a misdemeanor and your sentence is only 6 months, but the crime for which you were found guilty carries a maximum punishment more than 2 years, you will lose your right to carry or possess firearms for the rest of your life.

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