The Brady campaign to prevent gun violence uses gun crime statistics to try to show the high rate of crime because of high gun possession. Predictably, this organization will use gun crime statistics to show the dangers of having many guns and the need to control gun ownership. The NRA on the other hand puts forward the argument that incidences of gun violence decrease if more guns are in the hands of the population. Clearly, statistics should prove one side of the argument wrong because the numbers are the same. However, each side tries to use the statistics that favor and therefore support their side of the argument.
The Brady campaign against gun violence uses statistics from gun incidences. The statistics given clearly indicate the involvement of guns in the specific incident. For example, one in three people in the United states knows somebody who has been shot and on average, 31 people are murdered with guns every day and 151 are treated in emergency rooms for gun assault every day. A gun in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in a homicide, suicide or unintended shooting in the home than for self-defense (Brady Campaign). A clear look at these statistics shows that they specifically involve guns. For instance, the United States gun homicide rate is 20 times the combined rate of 22 countries of similar wealth and population. This is a clear indicator that the United States has a serious gun problem compared with its peers.
The NRA on the other hand is a pro-gun association and they will therefore argue that the more guns there are in the hands of the civilian population, the safer the country is. However, the statistics they use are not specific for gun violence and they do not consider other factors such as population changes. For example, one of the statements made is that violent crime decreased by 6% between 2008 and 2009 (NRA-ILA). However, violent crime can be of different natures. The use of any weapon, not necessarily a gun can be considered violent crime. Although violent crime actually fell during this period, the statistics do not prove that the rate of gun violence in particular fell during that period. There are also many reasons that could have resulted in the drop in gun violence.
Although the NRA would like to claim that an increase in gun ownership is responsible for the drop, other factors like police interventions are more likely to be the reason behind the drops. Another statistic quoted by the NRA in trying to justify gun ownership is that murder rates have fallen to a 49-year low while an additional 90 million guns have been sold during the same period (NRA-ILA). However, the statement is a manipulation of statistics, as it does not put into account the increase in population during the same time, or the increase in the police force during the same time, which is more likely to be the factors leading to the drop.
Clearly, the statistics presented by the NRA indicate cherry picking where they misrepresent facts in order to support their arguments. This is a major ethical issue, in that the NRA only picks the statistics that support its argument. For instance, quoting general drops in violent crime does not indicate that gun violence has actually drop since violent crime encompasses many other forms of crime.
Works Cited:
Brady Campaign. “About Gun Violence”. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Sept. 2016.
Brady Campaign. “Key Gun Violence Statistics”. Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Sept. 2016.
NRA-ILA. "More Guns, Less Crime Again." NRA-ILA. N.p.,2010. Web. 07 Sept. 2016.
NRA-ILA. " Twisting The Truth." NRA-ILA. N.p.,2010. Web. 07 Sept. 2016.
