In case you weren’t aware, if a law is passed that allows concealed carry reciprocity across the country, we’re all going to die. The streets will run red with the blood of those too stupid to realize that citizens shouldn’t be carrying guns. And, of course, the article opens with George Zimmerman as the focus.
Meet John Rosenthal, a gun owner and author for the Huffington Post. According to his bio, he’s a recreational trap shooter, founder of Stop Handgun Violence, and by my count, he is horrible with statistics. Or not doing enough research. Or lying.
The number that Rosenthal uses to try and further his cause is… well, it’s very misleading. In his article, he references the number 722. The number generated is, supposedly, the number of people killed by concealed carry permit holders nationwide, over the last eight years. This number comes from a *cough* study *cough* by The Violence Policy Center that includes things such as suicides and negligent discharges…oh, and legally justified self-defense shootings. One commenter decided to throw some actual statistics in the direction of Rosenthal:
And don’t forget, there are over 11 MILLION citizens across the country that have a concealed carry permit. I’d ask Rosenthal to do the following math just to humor me: Go find statistics of how many drunk people get behind the wheel of a car and end up killing someone –or themselves– and get back to me with the real dangers of life. You don’t even have to go back eight years… the last year’s worth of statistics is more than enough to prove my point.
Don’t punish the majority for the dumb actions of a few. Furthermore, if you’re going to use statistics in your argument, they should make sense.
