BELLEVUE, WA – A reported new study by two news agencies that asserts more children are dying in gun-related accidents than are actually reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention should be approached with caution, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.
“Forgive our skepticism, but a study that is greeted by a CDC official who acknowledges that his own agency’s data might be unreliable gives us considerable pause,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Add to that the fact that the study reportedly relied on data from the Gun Violence Archive, a group whose title hardly instills a sense of impartiality, is bothersome as well. We call upon this non-profit to disclose its funding sources.
“The most alarming aspect of this report is that it looks like one more attempt to make firearms ownership a public health issue,” he continued. “And what are the solutions offered by so-called ‘gun safety’ advocates? More gun control. They seem more interested in punishment than prevention; holding people accountable rather than educating people.
“What about teaching firearms safety as part of the public school curriculum,” Gottlieb asked. “Why is that strategy never part of an effort to reduce firearms accidents among our youth? If you look up the term ‘gun safety,’ you will find that the leaders in that field are gun rights organizations, not lobbying groups that want to discourage firearms ownership or erode our rights under the Second Amendment.
“If the Associated Press and USA Today network data is accurate,” he added, “and the CDC actually admits it has questioned its own statistics, this opens the agency up to questions about other data that it produces. It is no wonder that firearms organizations and industry groups have long questioned the CDC in its attempts to make firearms a public health issue.
“You cannot treat a civil right like a communicable disease,” Gottlieb concluded.