Bloomberg’s “The Trace” reported this week “breaking news” that anti-gun researcher David Hemenway has “debunked” the myth of self defensive gun uses in America. Of
course, this “breaking news” amounts to nothing more than another
failed attempt by Hemenway to challenge common sense and shared
experience here in the United States. Hemenway
has been trying (and failing) for nearly two decades to undermine the
groundbreaking work of Florida State University’s Gary Kleck, which
showed that firearms are used approximately 2.5 million times per year
in self defense situations. You can read Kleck’s most recent response to Hemenway here.
And even beyond Kleck’s work, we might suggest to Hemenway
that where social science flies in the face of common sense and the
shared experience of millions of Americans, a new “hypothesis” might be
in order. A simple review of the real accounts contained in The Armed Citizen would be a good place for him to start an earnest evaluation.
It is also interesting that “The Trace” article points to the Hemenway study as “new.” In fact, the Hemenway study came out in April. Apparently,
the editors at “The Trace” were unhappy with the lack of interest in
Hemenway’s allegations back when his study was initially published and
are hoping to push greater coverage in the media now. Unfortunately, we can expect to see regurgitation of this “new study” repeatedly over the coming months and years.
The simple truth is Hemenway’s “study” didn’t gain much traction because his findings are problematic at best. At
the core of the study’s failures is Hemenway’s reliance on self-reports
of defensive gun uses (DGUs) based on responses in the National Crime
Victimization Survey (NCVS). Using
the NCVS for the type of study conducted by Hemenway is inappropriate
for several reasons, including: the NCVS relies on self reports of
participants; is not anonymous; was not designed to measure DGUs; and does not ask participants about DGUs directly. Even
though Hemenway would never admit it, these issues make the NCVS a
extremely poor choice for the study of DGUs due to how unreliable the
reporting is.
On the other hand, if the editors at “The Trace” are
confident in the Hemenway study results, then it would be appropriate
for them to begin lobbying their boss, Michael Bloomberg, to dispense
with any armed security at his home, his various places of business, and
within his entourage as he travels the country pushing his anti-gun
agenda. After all, the
“breaking news” reported this week – even though it was from nearly
three months ago -- suggests he has nothing to worry about since DGUs
are such “rare” events. We won’t hold our breath.
From NRA-ILA here
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