The COVID pandemic really helped to bring to light the transformation of the Centers for Disease Control from go-to source for medical expertise and advice to partisan Democratic mouthpiece. But this transformation was also happening beyond the realm of COVID. It was also happening with regard to gun control.
Stephen Gutowski, firearms expert, founder of The Reload, and recently minted CNN contributor (possibly the only CNN contributor worth listening to these days) has a new piece detailing the CDC’s casting data aside and bending over for gun control advocates, and it’s well worth your time.
Thread showing how corrupt left-wing government bureaucrats manipulated official statistics to try to reach their political goals. https://t.co/02RRchlGfG
— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) December 15, 2022
Gutowski has done fantastic reporting on gun-related issues, and this piece is no exception.
NEW: Emails Show CDC Removed Defensive Gun Use Stats After Gun-Control Advocates Pressured Officials in Private Meeting https://t.co/tKmo3v3BNg
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
You should definitely read Gutowski’s full piece. But if you’re pressed for time at the moment, at least do yourselves a favor and read his thread of the highlights:
After complaints from a trio of gun-control advocates, the CDC quietly altered its website to remove a range of estimates on how often guns are used in self-defense. https://t.co/tKmo3v3BNg
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
For years, the CDC's "fast facts" website on gun violence included a reference to the range of estimates on how often guns were used in self-defense (60,000 to 2.5 million per year) and a link to a CDC review of studies on the topic. https://t.co/tKmo3v3BNg
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
However, after the White House and Senator Dick Durbin's office helped connect them with CDC officials, a group of gun-control advocates disputed the higher end of the estimate and said the CDC referencing it made passing new gun restrictions difficult. https://t.co/tKmo3v3BNg
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
Inconvenient truths are so damn inconvenient. They must therefore be eliminated. And the CDC was happy to take care of that.
Despite initially standing by its description, the CDC held a private meeting with the advocates and ultimately agreed to remove the reference and link to its own paper. FOIAd emails don't show the agency requesting input from any other outside sources before making the change.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
If it’s good enough for gun control advocates, it’s good enough for the CDC.
The advocates' complaints centered on the work of criminologist Gary Kleck, whose 1990s surveys found 2.5 million defensive gun uses per year. The substantive critiques came mainly from @GV_Pedia's Devin Hughes, who repeated claims he had originally made in Politico back in 2015.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
However, the Gun Violence Archie's Mark Bryant focused more on the effect he believes Kleck's estimate has had in preventing new gun restrictions. He said he wanted it to be "killed, buried, dug up, killed again and buried again." pic.twitter.com/IW6lbd3tE9
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
While Bryant and Hughes advocate for new gun restrictions, their work does focus more on research. But the third advocate is a more traditional gun-control activist, and a bombastic one at that.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
Po Murray used her connections with the White House and Senator Dick Durbin's (D., Ill.) office to get the meeting with CDC officials after their initial attempts to make contact went unnoticed.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
Murray and her group the Newtown Action Alliance are known for accusing anyone who doesn't support an AR-15 ban of wanting to arm mass shooters and supporting the murder of children, even a father who lost his daughter in the Parkland shooting. pic.twitter.com/czJhQVOil5
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
If you’re not familiar with Po Murray’s oeuvre, you’ve been missing out.
While the CDC's original language did not endorse Kleck's estimate, a fact that drove some confusion inside the agency on why they should change it, Kleck told @TheReloadSite he stands by his work. He also said the CDC did not reach out for his input and accused them of bias. pic.twitter.com/kWOdG8qZfa
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
The CDC did not immediately respond to a request for comment form @TheReloadSite on the decision, but it did provide one to The Trace (which first broke news of the change and mentioned the lobbying campaign) that was included in response to the FOIA request from @MorosKostas.
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
The CDC said it removed the estimate range and link to one of its own papers in order to offer further "clarity" and keep the fact sheet "succinct." pic.twitter.com/mSKaBBCDeo
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
The CDC was just trying to be clear and succinct. Suuuuuuuure.
Kleck didn't buy that explanation, though. "[I]t’s just another way of saying we can’t afford to even put one sentence in about the most frequent violence-related use of firearms," he said. He argued the goal was, instead, to eliminate awareness of defensive gun use. pic.twitter.com/RRFyJLSS9r
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
Think Kleck might be onto something?
As long as this thread is, there's actually a lot more in the full piece which you can read here: https://t.co/tKmo3v3BNg
— Stephen Gutowski (@StephenGutowski) December 15, 2022
Again, read the full piece.
Excellent reporting by Stephen. The most damning part of this FOIA release is that the CDC initially told gun control advocates to pound sand because their review of the defensive gun use scholarship was accurate…then suddenly reversed course after months of bullying. https://t.co/aJRu9U9RQy
— Amy Swearer (@AmySwearer) December 15, 2022
It’s important that you know what sort of CDC we’re dealing with.
The CDC never again gets to claim that they aren’t a bunch of political hacks.
— Mark 🥓🥓 (@PitmasterMark69) December 15, 2022
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