(ConservativeSense.com) – Former President Barack Obama has falsely claimed that guns are the number one cause of death among young Americans. He was repeating a much-spoken claim that shooting is the top cause of death among children, which is based on a misreading of a CDC report from May last year.
The report stated that there were 4,368 gun-related deaths in 2020 involving people aged 0-19. But if that figure doesn’t include people aged 18 or 19, the number falls to 2,281 – less than those killed in car accidents from the same age group. Examination of the report also reveals that people aged 0-19 are 27 times more likely to die in an accidental car crash than in an accidental shooting.
The false assertion has taken on a life of its own and has been touted numerous times by celebrities as proof that gun control laws are needed. The claim has also been made by President Biden and even by Fox News. It was reiterated by Barack Obama as famous figures came out to protest against the Second Amendment in the wake of a fatal shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27th.
This tragedy left three children dead, as well as three school staff members. The President, speaking at a women’s business summit said, “We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart. It’s ripping at the very soul of the nation. We have to do more to protect our schools so they aren’t turned into prisons.”
The tragedy, in which a 28-year-old woman crashed her way onto the school grounds and opened fire, immediately prompted Hollywood celebrities to call for the further erosion of American gun rights. These include acting royalty such as Julianne Moore and Jamie Lee Curtis, who shouted “BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS NOW” on Twitter.
Moore urged her followers to support the group Moms Demand Action, a gun control advocacy group with chapters in all 50 states.
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