WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The U.S. violent crime rate fell 14 percent during 2002 and 2003 from the previous two-year period, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Sunday.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics' victims survey also found violent and property crime rates nationally remained at their lowest levels in 30 years, he said.
"With violent crime stabilized at its lowest level since 1973, Americans across our nation are safer and have the freedom to live their lives without fear of becoming victims of crime," Ashcroft said.
The bureau report "found that only 7 percent of all violent crimes in 2003 were committed with a firearm, a decrease from 11 percent in 1993, and that the per capita rate of non-lethal firearm violence was only 1.9 per 1,000 persons, a two-thirds reduction over 10 years."
The report also indicated during 2002 and 2003 there was an 11 percent drop in rapes and a 27 percent drop in sexual assaults from the previous two years.
Robberies were down 21 percent and aggravated assaults were down 20 percent.
