Facts, Guns and Spin – What a Gun Control Advocate Learned Today

It all started with a statistic. While reporting on the senseless murder of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton in Chicago, a NBC Nightly News reporter referred to a Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence memo showing there had been over 200 violent gun acts in our country before 6:00 p.m. that day alone. Indignantly, albeit to myself, I said, “if the media would report statistics like that every day, we could get meaningful gun legislation passed in this country.”

However, statistics are fickle comrades. Just when you think you have uncovered the data needed to win an argument, your opponent co-opts the same fact and uses it to his advantage. Maybe, just maybe, this would be different.

Hadiya’s death and the Newtown tragedy are abominations that have, for good reason, fanned the flames of discord about guns in America. In full disclosure, I support measures that make it harder to obtain guns and the outlawing of some weapons, but don’t stop reading quite yet. I came across a few interesting additional facts as I researched the stat that stoked my outrage I think those on both sides of the debate should consider.

Let me start with the following found on the Brady Campaign website.

On an average day in America:

• 223 adults are shot in murders, assaults, suicides, accidents, and police intervention

• 47 children and teens are shot

• 87 people die from gun violence, 33 of them murdered

• 8 children and teens die from gun violence

• 183 people are shot, but survive their gun injuries

• 38 children and teens are shot, but survive their gun injuries

Painfully shocking, I know. Yet, one should not take these numbers alone. With the help of my friend Art Stanton, I found the National Vital Statistics Report, Preliminary 2011 Statistics from the CDC published October 2012 and calculated these others.

On an average day in America:

• There are 2 accidental gun discharge deaths

• There are 54 suicides by firearm and 50 suicides by other means (a total of 38,285 suicides per year!)

There are these other non-gun related tragedies

• 73 people die as a result of a fall

• 92 people die due to accidental poisoning

• 72 people die an alcohol related death

Then, this tidbit on FactCheck.org, “The United States has the highest rate of gun ownership in the world — by far. And it has the highest rate of homicides among advanced countries. And yet, gun crime has been declining in the U.S. Firearm murders are down, as is overall gun violence – even as gun ownership increases.” Feeling my righteous anger receding, I thought of the precious lives lost in school and young Hadiya cut down in Chicago. There is something to be learned from these tragedies. They were unacceptable acts of murder all too easily brought about by people wielding weapons that cause instantaneous death. We should outlaw weaponry like assault rifles capable of mass destruction.

Freedom is not purchased with the lives of classrooms full of children. In the end, cold hard statistics reminded me of a human element that often goes unaddressed in the call for gun control. Gun violence is, well, violent. Images of schoolhouses on lockdown are easily captured and reported. All the while, so many other tragic deaths go unnoticed. I know why we (to be read I) make such noise about gun violence, but the perspective gained by considering additional facts helped me view the issue in a way I had not before. The media should report facts like those provided by the Brady Campaign as these figures help frame the debate, but such facts need to be presented in a way that provides the broader view. And, we need to seek it out when the media fails to do so.

If you are disappointed I am not closing this piece with a sweeping opinion about guns, I am sorry. My lonely point is there are plenty of facts out there to bolster both sides of the debate. It is time we starting looking for solutions to solve the problem, not the points required to win a political argument. Let’s agree to work together to stop madmen and reprobates before they act – making it a little harder for them to arm themselves is the reasonable place to start.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com 
This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register online essay.

Equal Rights for Gay Dove Hunters

Governor Terry Branstad took to the airwaves this week to criticize President Barack Obama for making a statement in support of equal marriage for all couples. The Governor thinks the President should be singly focused on the economy and the federal debt, and not on issues the Governor considers of less importance.

Appearing on MSNBCs Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd Governor Branstad said, “I find it tragic to see the President of the United States pandering to the Hollywood money crowd instead of focusing on the things that are important to America, which is reducing this massive federal debt.”

Sorry, Governor, just because you disagree with what the President said does not mean the issue is of so little significance he should remain silent.

Branstad’s statement is disingenuous and a little silly. Branstad may be the one pandering. As a chief executive, he is well aware people expect a leader to focus on more than one pressing issue at a time.

Governor Branstad must realize multitasking comes with the job. After all, last week he took time away from focusing his attention on Iowa’s economy, declining schools and a multitude of other clearly more pressing issues to sign an Executive Order overturning a rule imposed by a commission he appoints to – wait for it – allow hunters to use lead ammunition instead of steel when hunting doves.

Lead is a toxin that can cause brain damage and death in both people and animals. While some studies conclude the full effects of leftover shot in meat are inconclusive on humans, other studies conclude that scavengers like eagles can become ill after ingesting lead shot. The Natural Resources Commission determined lead shot wasn’t worth the risk.

Hunters and Branstad claim steel shot is more expensive than lead and doesn’t work quite as well. I went to cabelas.com this morning and discovered a box of 25 steel shot shells ranged from $12.99-21.99 and the lead shot shells ranged from $12.99-17.99. The price factor appears minimal and, I wouldn’t know for sure, but it seems to me the guys with guns already have a distinct advantage over the birds as it is. I am not sure how one type of shot can kill something more than another, but I digress.

Governor Branstad was awfully quick to wag his finger at the President for changing his mind on an issue that is important to many Americans. And remember, the President did not take any action. A few hours later, Governor Branstad reversed his earlier statements on lead shot and did act. He overruled his own commission so a small percentage of Iowans can save a few bucks killing a few birds.

Pandering or not, supporting the extension of a right to people long denied is more worthwhile than making a few people’s recreational hunting cheaper and more effective.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com 
This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register online essay.