NRA News Promotes Dubious Acts Of Self-Defense To Advance False Gun Violence Narrative

[SecularMotion]

Daily segments on NRA News that push the false claim that guns are more likely to be used in self-defense than to commit a crime recently celebrated the actions of a shooter who police want charged with a felony and the case of a man whose murder conviction for shooting his tenant under disputed circumstances was recently overturned.

"The Armed Citizen File" and "Hero of the Day" are daily features on NRA News' televised show on The Sportsman Channel and radio show on SiriusXM, respectively. In both segments, host Cam Edwards shares media accounts of defensive gun use, which often conclude with the demise of alleged criminals. Online gun retailer ChaperThanDirt.com sponsors "The Armed Citizen File" segment.

The purpose of the segments is to advance the notion that guns are often used for self-defense in the United States. Indeed, promotional material for one of the segments cites repeatedly discredited research to advance the claim that "[f]irearms are used more than two million times a year for personal protection":

The "more than two million" figure likely comes from the research of criminologist Gary Kleck, whose claim that up to 2.45 million defensive gun uses occur each year has been promoted on NRA News and throughout right-wing media.

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/01/13/nra-news-promotes-dubious-acts-of-self-defense/197555

[billh58]

1. Just another example of

NRA outright lies in order to justify their right-wing Second Amendment absolutists' penchant for provocation to incite violence and vigilantism. From the linked article:

"But an analysis of Kleck's data has shown his figure to be an overestimation so great that it is mathematically impossible. David Hemenway, who heads the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, noted "serious methodological deficiencies" in Kleck's work that lead to absurd outcomes. For example, if Kleck's data about defensive gun uses and burglaries is accurate, in more than 100 percent of burglaries the victim defends themselves with a gun.

While the actual number of defensive gun uses is very difficult to estimate due to the rarity of the event, Hemenway and others at the Harvard Injury Research Control Center asked individuals to describe both defensive gun uses and instances where they were threatened by a gun in a 2000 study and found that as a ratio "{g}uns are used to threaten and intimidate far more often than they are used in self defense. Most self reported self defense gun uses may well be illegal and against the interests of society."

But then again, twisting "statistics" (even the made up kind) is what the right-wing ALEC/Koch Brothers backed NRA does best. Their cold-dead-hands followers and cheerleaders repeat these lies and bogus "statistics" at every opportunity based on the marketing/political ploy that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will begin to believe it.

[Hoyt]

2. This is the type tactical pistol that the outfit that maintains "The Armed Citizen File" promotes.

Aren't they such a wonderful group piquing the interest of gun fanciers everywhere and spreading gun propaganda, while appearing to promote self-defense.

[MillennialDem]

3. The math doesn't make sense of 2+ million self defense uses

It means statistically speaking the typical gun owner going to have 1 or more defensive uses in his lifetime. I've never known anyone to say they've shot at someone or even brandished. The number is utter hogwash.

And in any case, how many of those "I pulled a gun on him" or "I showed him my gun" are not cases of doing so to stop attempted muggings, but stupid stuff like scaring the 15 year old skateboarder on the sidewalk?

[tosh]

4. I had no idea this "NRA News"

even existed.



No wonder one of the two GUN NUTS who I actually know has been so off the rails.

[jimmy the one]

5. gunshot victim, heal thyself

The "more than two million" figure likely comes from the research of criminologist Gary Kleck, whose claim that up to 2.45 million defensive gun uses occur each year has been promoted on NRA News and throughout right-wing media.

There are a couple other dgu studies, mainly rightwing gunnutted, which contend similar in the millions, while fbi dgu's amount to around 150,000 yearly;
.. Kleck's 'DGU' (defensive gun use) study involved approx 5,000 phone calls randomly across america, maybe to gun owners only (culled), which produced the whopping total of about 56 defensive gun uses, of which about 12 where someone was wounded & two were killed. About a third (~18) were just 'verbal' such as go away or I'll get my gun, iow no gun was produced. Some of these were likely phantom dgus, since when extrapolated out, the woundings amounted to around 200,000 gunshot wounds, whereas for that year only ~100,000 medcare center/hospital admissions for gunshot wounds were recorded - what they do? heal themselves?