Just Say No! Don’t Be Fooled By Gun-Death Stats

Culture/Society Opinion (Published) Keywords: GUNS, SECOND AMENDMENT, YOUTH VIOLENCE
Source: The Daily Oklahoman
Published: 04/14/2000 Author: Staff Report

THE next time President Clinton, Sarah Brady or any other gun-control spokesman says 13 children a day in this country are being killed by guns, throw a brick through your television set and shout, “No, no, no!”

OK, the brick part is a little extreme. But there should be lots of shouting about the 13- kids-a-day statistic because it is absolutely false. Still, it is being used in practically every pro- gun control speech these days to inflame Americans and skew the public policy debate.

“We are told repeatedly that 13 or 15 or 17 children every day are killed by guns,” writes Dave Kopel, of the Colorado-based Independence Institute, in the April 17 National Review. “This factoid is used to conjure up pictures of dozens of little kids dying in gun accidents every week.”

Indeed, a gun-control activist in Denver breathlessly told CNN this week that “a Columbine happens in this country every day.” Actually, the number of fatal gun accidents is at its lowest since 1903, Kopel writes.

So where does the gun-control lobby get its dire statistic? By counting as “children” people in their early 20s.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 629 children 14 and under died in gun-related incidents, or 1.7 a day, in 1997, the most recent year available. The stat for teens 15-19 is 3,576 or 9.8 per day. Put the two groups together and you get 4,205 or 11.5 per day. You have to include people over the age of 20 to reach the 13-per-day figure cited by Clinton and others. That includes young drug dealers who shoot each other, gang slayings and teen-age robbers who’re shot by police.

Kopel writes that the actual figure for gun-related deaths of children 10 and under is 0.4, which is “far lower than the number of children who are killed by automobiles, drowning or many other causes.”

We’re not surprised Clinton and his gun-control allies distort statistics to make their argument against Second Amendment rights, just that they think they can get away with it. That’s worth shouting about.

Copyright Oklahoma Publishing. Presented for purposes of education and commentary only.

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