Here is the original writing of the article:
Only motor vehicles account for a larger percentage of accidental deaths, according to Harris County Institute of Forensic Science statistics. Of the 1,074 minors who died in Harris County from 2011 to 2014, about 1 in 8 was killed by a gun, according to the data.
Source: Guns now No. 2 cause of accidental child death in county – Houston Chronicle
That comes about 134 accidental deaths by firearms in Harris County in 4 years or 33 deaths per year. Thankfully Texas has this search engine from the Department of State Health Services much like the CDC engine. It does not show the info for 2014, but I went ahead and checked for 2011 through 2014 all causes of death for ages zero to 24. Please click to enlarge.
So either 2014 had a bumper crop on accidental shootings in 2014 for people from Zero to 24 in Harris County (127 accidental deaths by firearms) or something is not kosher in the original article. Now, CDC reports the number of deaths by Accidental Discharge of Firearms (zero to 24) in the United States for 2013 was 176. That would mean Harris County had 72% of all the accidental deaths by firearms for minors and not so minors in the country.
I don’t think so.
Now, it would be kind to say “well crap, somebody made a mistake in the article. Stuff like that happens.” but when they do not dare to give you firm numbers but go with statistical niceties like “One in Eight” and the only number that they show is probably the only one that people will remember (1,074) and associate with accidental firearm deaths, I do tend to detect the fragrant whiff of editorial BS and possible fraud in the name of gun control politics.
Always Check Raw Data.
PS: And in case you haven’t noticed, Drownings was the second cause and poison was third. Again we are including minors up to 24 years of age.
The amount of BS from this staggering. I don’t know about you, but I don’t consider anyone over the age of 18 to be a minor. Certainly not anyone over the age of 21. But of course, the picture shows young kids who most definitely are what you would think of when you think of minors.
This is reminiscent of the old ‘a classroom full of children killed by guns every day’ crap that they used to spew in the 1990s, which naturally included “children” as old as 29 years old!
Agenda? No, nothing to see here.
Agree, but the way that data is sectioned (and has been sectioned for decades) forces me to include the “up to 24” bracket. Don’t include it and somebody will come around and accusse you of fiddling with the numbers. And this way is even worse for their side as even the dumbest (well, maybe not) of the Antis know anything above 18 is NOT a minor.
I’d like to republish this on http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com with link back and attribution. Please let me know ASAP. Robert Farago. 401 835 5054
Go ahead.
This is the same old crap, warmed over. Remember when they used to say “5000 children die by gunfire every year”? Notice that “minors” become “children” and that gunshot deaths become “unintentional” within a few lines of print. Young criminals shooting each other are translated into numbers which are translated back into images of little kids. Pay no attention to the illogic behind the curtain, as Oz might have said.
It’s always irritating trying to quell this BS. 5 of the 7 deaths in the 15 – 24 age group. How many of them were in the 18+ age group? How many were involved in criminal activity? How many had prior felony records when they died? The whole story is generally more enlightening for crafting public policy, but that doesn’t make for good sound bites, “news” stories, or bumper stickers.
In this particular case we are just dealing with accidental shootings.
Holy shit math is not their strong suit. 1/8 of 1,074 is 134.25. According to their stated stats, that would be for a period of 4 years (2011-2014). 134.25 divided by 4 is 33.56. My head hurts from the idiocy.
Thanks Miguel. Missed that part. That even makes this report worse! The accidental rate is, as you pointed out, way the hell lower than anything CSGV is spouting. I guess I’m so used to the other side running the “child homicide” angle with those sized numbers, I just was in the homicide mindset.