Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
In a new report, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) attempted to link firearms with violence, especially against children. The authors wrote : "Gun violence historically has been a problem in cities, and youths have been affected disproportionately."
The gun control formula equates guns with violence in the reader's mind, thus the term "gun violence."
CDC history lesson
The CDC has long supported gun control. Researcher David Kopel wrote about CDC's history of funding anti-gun research:
Finally, in 1996, Congress cut off gun control funding for the CDC - mainly because the NRA demonstrated to legislators the CDC was buying political misinformation rather than science.
Since then, they've attempted to reframe their agenda into "gun safety." In the early 2000s, the CDC performed national gun ownership surveys. The survey's codebook had interviewers asking people if firearms in the home were loaded and locked. The assumption was that a loaded, ready firearm was dangerous.
But CDC fatal injury data show that right-to-carry (RTC) states — where law-abiding civilians carry loaded handguns in public — averaged 16.3% lower homicide rates than restrictive-carry states.
More interesting, CDC data show that between 2000 and 2007, black homicide rates averaged 24.9% less in RTC states. Considering that American gun control policy historically coincides with racist oppression, this data indicate modern gun control is a questionable policy.
Today’s “youth” and violence
The CDC report focuses on homicide victims ages 10-19, and uses the term “youth” 30 times in a report about 1,600 words long.
Numerous sources have concluded that street gangs have a significant influence on violent crime. A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) report noted:
At present, more than 20,000 gangs consisting of approximately 1 million members exist in the United States. Gangs are present in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories.
University of South Florida researchers reported a 20% increase in law enforcement agencies reporting gang problems between 2002 and 2005, with most of the growth in suburban and rural counties across America.
The DOJ reported: “The age range of youth gang members is about 12 to 24; membership is expanding at the top and the bottom of the age range, but mainly at the top.” The DOJ estimates that in 2006, juveniles (under age 18) comprised 36.5% of gang members, a 17.7% increase from 2002.
Over the Memorial Day weekend, numerous “youth” violence incidents occurred.
Massachusetts State Police dispersed 1,000 “youths” for fighting from Carson Beach in South Boston. The Boston Globe, which used the term “youth” 11 times in their article, reported “the troublemakers were mostly 14 to 19 years old” and that many were “gang members.”
In Long Beach, New York, police had to “quell a beach melee involving ‘hundreds’ of “young people.”
Charlotte, North Carolina, experienced “many fights” and one person was killed. “In all, 70 people were arrested — including 15 juveniles.” Many flashed gang signs.
In Nashville, a water park shut down after a “significant number of kids grew impatient” and started causing trouble, including “several fights.” WTVF video shows that most of the trouble involved what CDC calls “youth.”
For the children!
The CDC report covers “youths age 10-19 years.” Anti-rights researchers include real children (under age 15) with older teenagers and young adults, obfuscating this by calling them “youths.” Few children get murdered, but the image of thousands of children getting shot evokes readers’ strongest emotional response.
http://pjmedia.com/blog/cdc-misrepresents-their-crime-data-to-promote-gun-control/