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New Harvard Research Debunks Gun Lobby’s Favorite Talking Points (4/15)
https://publichealthwatch.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/new-harvard-research-debunks-gun-lobbys-favorite-talking-points/Public Health Watch
New Harvard Research Debunks Gun Lobby’s Favorite Talking Points
POSTED BY PUBLICHEALTHWATCH ? APRIL 4, 2015
According to an April 2 analysis of the research by Mother Jones, the study revealed that the arguments pushed by the gun lobby “don’t stand up to scrutiny.” Quoting Dr. David Hemenway, the center’s director, the article noted that some in the media have continued to promote myths about guns, treating them as “legitimate points of debate” and inserting doubt where there is in fact a consensus among experts in the field:
Anyone familiar with the gun debate has heard the talking points of the National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates: “Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer.” Or: “If only more ordinary citizens were armed, they could stop mass shootings.” As we’ve shown in our reporting, these arguments don’t stand up to scrutiny. After the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, commented on another long-running assertion from the gun lobby: “There is no evidence that having more guns reduces crime,” he told the New York Times.
Yet, Hemenway says that some in the media have continued to treat such assertions as legitimate points of debate. That leaves the public thinking, “Okay, so there’s disagreement on this,” he says.
Anyone familiar with the gun debate has heard the talking points of the National Rifle Association and other gun rights advocates: “Carrying a gun for self-defense makes you safer.” Or: “If only more ordinary citizens were armed, they could stop mass shootings.” As we’ve shown in our reporting, these arguments don’t stand up to scrutiny. After the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, commented on another long-running assertion from the gun lobby: “There is no evidence that having more guns reduces crime,” he told the New York Times.
Yet, Hemenway says that some in the media have continued to treat such assertions as legitimate points of debate. That leaves the public thinking, “Okay, so there’s disagreement on this,” he says.
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1 - Conviction Data: http://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/chl/reports/convrates.htm
2 - Number of Licensees: http://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/chl/reports/demographics.htm
3 - Population Data: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/CHS/popdat/detailX.shtm
