Governor’s aide sends Maryland lawmakers inflated gun-death data
Constitution Breaking News News Keywords: 2ND AMEND, HCL, LIES
Source: The Washington Times
> Published: March 15, 2000 Author: Margie Hyslop
> Posted on 03/15/2000 09:49:28 PST by Covenantor
>
> Governor’s aide sends Maryland lawmakers inflated gun-death data
>
> THE WASHINGTON TIMES
>
> March 15, 2000
>
> By Margie Hyslop
>
> ANNAPOLIS – Gov. Parris N. Glendening’s office forwarded inaccurate
> information from Handgun Control Inc. to state legislators, doubling
> federal statistics on 1997 gun deaths in Maryland.
>
> A Glendening legislative staffer sent inflated figures, apparently
taken
> from Handgun Control’s Web site, to House Ways and Means Committee
> Chairman Sheila Hixson. They listed firearms deaths in Maryland by
> victim’s age and type of shooting.
>
> Handgun Control Inc.’s research director, Douglas Weil, said staffers
used
> data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National
Center
> for Health Statistics to create the chart.
>
> But Handgun Control listed a total of 1,408 firearms deaths for
Maryland -
> almost double the 710 Maryland firearm deaths that the CDC reported.
>
> Mr. Weil said the erroneous information was generated inadvertently
during
> turnover in Handgun Control’s research staff. Confusing notes left by
a
> researcher who hadn’t finished compiling the data caused some “double
> counting,” Mr. Weil said.
>
> Glendening spokesman Mike Morrill said the governor and his staff have
> been saying that about 700 people die in Maryland every year by
firearms -
> roughly the number reported by the CDC, although they get their
figures
> from the Maryland State Police.
>
> But a Glendening staffer, in a reply to a committee request, supplied
the
> numbers, not knowing they were wrong, from a source that “has been
> reliable” and noted their origin – Handgun Control Inc. – Mr. Morrill
> said.
>
> He said the staffer did not know the numbers Handgun Control had
posted
> were wrong until a reporter inquired about the letter.
>
> The staffer has now started to inform committee members about the
error,
> Mr. Morrill said. Mr. Weil said the error was made for several states.
>
> “We don’t know if one person pulled that information off our Web site
or
> more,” Mr. Weil said.
>
> Handgun Control pulled the erroneous information off its Web site
about an
> hour after Yale University professor John Lott – a gun-rights
advocate -
> notified them of the discrepancy on March 2, Mr. Weil said.
>
> A check revealed the information had been pulled from Handgun
Control’s
> Web site, but the only message said the page was temporarily
unavailable.
>
> No message appeared on the site yesterday afternoon warning that
> information posted earlier was erroneous.
>
> Although Mr. Weil said the information was posted for no more than two
> days before it was pulled March 2, the letter Mr. Glendening’s office
sent
> to the committee with the apparent Web site attachments was dated Feb.
21
> and stamped received Feb. 23.
>
> Delegate Carmen Amedori, Carroll County Republican (FR note; of gun
raffle
> fame), said the public needs to know about Handgun Control’s
dissemination
> of false information since the organization has done little to correct
the
> record.
>
> “They should be ashamed,” said Mrs. Amedori who serves on the House
> Judiciary Committee, which is scheduled to hear legislation that would
> legislate “childproof smart guns” this week. “Kids are not piling up
like
> cords of wood.”
>
> Statistics the National Rifle Association supplied yesterday in
response
> to a reporter’s query matched the CDC’s data for 1997 firearm deaths
in
> Maryland. Suzin Schneider contributed to this report.
>
>
> Here again on the heels of the continued lying by the President and
HCI,
> we have more evidence of doctored and out right false statistics used
to
> foment anti-gun hysteria in an effort to ramrod gun-control
legislation
> through.
>
> Have you noticed that the excuses used by HCI sound so similar to
those of
> the White House? Surprise.
>
> For those that are not Marylanders make note that we are not the only
> state for which they have inflated gun deaths in their scare tactics.
Note
> also that they are not providing the Washington Times reporter with
the
> names of the other states.
>
> Now that the NRA commercials have gone national and the confrontation
with
> the administration remains fresh in people’s minds it is up to us and
> others to take the attack to these scumbags. Write to your local reps,
> state senators and local media. Hammer home the fact of these
continued
> lies, force them to question the other statistics provided to them
from
> tainted sources.