The establishment press is reporting in unison about a new study which allegedly shows that restrictive gun control laws can make a difference in reducing firearm-related deaths “among children and teens.”
Like previous research, the claim about guns being a leading cause of death among young people is couched to cover an age group of 0 to 17 or 18 years. According to CNN, “Researchers grouped states into three categories based on firearm ownership and use policies – most permissive, permissive and strict – using a composite of policy scorecards from nonprofit advocacy groups: Brady, Everytown for Gun Safety and the Giffords Law Center.”
CHILDHOOD GUN DEATHS: FACT OR FLIMSY SHAM?
Another media report says states with looser gun laws “subsequently had more firearm deaths among kids, an excess mortality analysis showed.” The report, at MetPageToday, said there were 6,029 “excess pediatric firearm deaths”…in states with the most permissive laws and 1,424 excess firearm deaths in states with permissive laws, reported Jeremy Faust, MD, of Mass General Brigham in Boston, and colleagues.”
According to the CNN report, “Firearms surpassed car accidents to become the leading cause of death among children and teens in the US in 2020, and Rees said that the philosophy behind seatbelts can serve as a guide of sorts for gun policy.”
But there may be a problem with how the story is being told, as noted recently by journalist David Mastio, an opinion writer with the Kansas City Star, His recent column about how the numbers have been manipulated appeared in several other newspapers, including the Tri-City Herald.
In his column, Mastio observed, “The facts tell a different story. Guns are not the number one killer of children at any age between 0 and 12. They never have been. Cars are the biggest killer. Who says? The CDC database called WONDER that tracks the cause of death in most U.S. deaths indexed by race, sex and age among other characteristics. For a number of kids’ years of life, drowning or falls are a greater threat than guns.”
But the story about this new study has been reported by the New York Times (paywall warning), Yahoo News, the Boston Globe and others.
According to the Globe report, “Nationally, firearms are the leading cause of death for children and adolescents. But outcomes from one state to another varied widely, according to the study.”
But that’s how the scenario is manipulated, according to Mastio.
“Here’s what the CDC says,” according to Mastio: “‘Taking into account all types of firearm injuries, including homicides, suicides, and unintentional injuries, firearm injuries were the leading cause of death among children and teens ages one to 19 in 2020 and 2021.’ What they mean is if you lump all the dead children and teens in one pile and count how they died, for the whole gruesome pile, the No. 1 killer was guns. But that is only because guns kill so many teens — a large number of them 18- and 19-year-old adult teens. It has nothing to do with children’s deaths.”
The question remains: Have researchers fudged the data, combining the actual childhood age group (0-12) with teens (13-19) to come up with a more dramatic story?
