FactCheck.Org: Bloomberg’s Gun Control Commercial Is Misleading

FactCheck.Org published a breakdown of the statistics presented in Michael Bloomberg’s Super Bowl gun control ad and found many of the claims to be misleading.

Breitbart News reported the ad is framed around the 2013 shooting death of 20-year-old George Kemp. The ad uses Kemp’s death to bolster calls for more gun control but does not mention a Houston Chronicle article that says Kemp was shot after allegedly pulling into a neighbor and challenging someone to a fight.

FactCheck.Org points out that Bloomberg’s commercial about instituting gun control in order to keep children safe, with George Kemp’s mom quoted saying, “Mike’s fighting for every child.”

However, Kemp was 20 years of age at the time of his death and, therefore, not a child. But Bloomberg’s use of Kemp’s death explains how the ad claims, “2,900 children die from gun violence every year.”

FactCheck.Org explains Bloomberg’s “children” moniker does include those who are old enough to vote, join the military, etc. They report, “It does include many 18- and 19-year-olds who also were legally considered adults in most U.S. states — not ‘children,’ as the ad claims.”

FactCheck.Org notes that when 18 and 19 year-olds are removed from the equation the number of deaths drops “by nearly half,” or just below 1,500. And they point to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings that show that only 792 deaths of 0-17 year-olds were homicides, and even some of those were justifiable gun uses. Thirty-nine percent were were suicides–i.e., not gun violence deaths–and 88 were unintentional.

The cause behind roughly 30 of the deaths “could not be determined.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.