We know we’ve said it before, but Stephen Gutowski might be one of the only reporters (we’ll give a shout-out to Emily Miller as well) who actually knows guns. And it apparently falls to him to keep the press honest when it comes to shooting statistics. (No, you can’t shoot 1,200 rounds a minute with an AR-15.)
You might remember last May, when CNN put up a graphic claiming there’d been 22 school shootings already that year, or around one shooting every week. Gutowski looked into it and found that CNN’s count included shootings where neither the shooter nor the victims were students or faculty at the school, accidental shootings, and even one incident where one student was bruised after being shot with a BB gun.
Even the Washington Post stepped in with a fact-check when gun-control group Everytown had claimed 18 school shootings by mid-February 2018, and Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, HuffPost, TIME and other media outlets just ran with the number.
Now NBC News’ Chuck Todd is claiming there have been 101 mass shootings around D.C. over the past five years, and once again, Gutowski sets the record straight.
So, @chucktodd just claimed there have been 101 shootings where 4 or more people were killed within 100 miles of DC over the last 5 years. That's very far off. The actual number appears to be 8, according to the Wapo piece he cited. https://t.co/XMzSxWLreb
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 7, 2019
Todd confusing the Gun Violence Archive's definition used in the piece. Instead of using the FBI definition for mass murder (4 or more killed at once) that definition, first coined by gun control activists, reduces it to 4 or more injured.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 7, 2019
The massive difference in counts (8 vs 101) gives you some insight into why the methodology for what constitutes a "mass shooting" is hotly contested.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) August 7, 2019
Did he also claim there have been 250 mass shootings, this year? That’s another bogus statistic.
— Candy Lamb (@candylamb47) August 7, 2019
What does one expect, honesty. Media is has devolved into pre-television times. Where there used to be 20 different newspapers writing 20 different versions of a story for 20 different audiences. True leanings aren't hidden any more.
— Clint (@RayFlaher) August 7, 2019
the truth is secondary to scaring people into starting a civil war
— HEWWO? (@excelsagas) August 7, 2019
Remember when Chuck's colleague David Gregory on national television broke a DC gun law and skated with no prosecution despite a slam-dunk case? #goodtimes
— Ken Shepherd (@KenShepherd) August 7, 2019
The fact that Stephen isn't all over every network and cable news program these last few days tells you pretty much everything https://t.co/cccnouHhQL
— Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) August 7, 2019
Yep.
Related:
'Bruising from a BB gun': Stephen Gutowski dismantles CNN's school shooting count https://t.co/FprfDWqvwY
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) May 22, 2018
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