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I've been seeing a headline that 44% of Americans know someone killed by gun. Example: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-brief...ercent-of-americans-know-someone-who-has-been The full report and the questions asked are here: 1. The demographics of gun ownership The specific question being reported can be seen in context here: http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-co...W25-W26-combined-topline-chkd-for-release.pdf
Anyway, I know one's personal experience is not data, merely anecdote, but as a non-vet, I don't personally know anyone who has ever been killed or wounded by a firearm (beyond slide bite) and so far as I know, neither do any of my long time friends with one exception, and that all relates to his experiences in Vietnam.
ASK WAVE 26: INJUREDA
Not counting yourself, has someone you PERSONALLY KNOW ever been shot, either accidentally or intentionally, or not?
Apr 4-18 2017
Yes: 44
No: 56
No answer: *
I see two major problems with this question right off the bat:Not counting yourself, has someone you PERSONALLY KNOW ever been shot, either accidentally or intentionally, or not?
Apr 4-18 2017
Yes: 44
No: 56
No answer: *
- How many knuckleheads answered "yes" because they read about Dick Cheney loading a buddy with birdshot. Yes it says "personally" but people often hear what they want to hear. Antis may also be prone to lie about this because they are so emotionally invested in the issue.
- Worse than that, it does not distinguish between war related shootings and non-war shootings, and that's a huge problem if the point is to assess gun safety in America. What this question does is push a narrative that says guns make us unsafe and suggests as evidence that basically half of America knows someone killed or wounded by a gun. But if we are talking about gun safety in America, what happens in Iraq or Vietnam is not pertinent to the question and without that added detail, it is impossible to know that the answers refer to incidents that happened inside or outside of America.
- Aside from veterans' likely increased exposure to shootings while at war, It also fails to take the simple expedient of asking where the shooting took place. It is entirely possible that an immigrant from or a non-military visitor to a chaotic and violent region was included in the survey and without knowing where that shooting took place, this question is simply importing foreign gun violence thus padding the numbers.
Anyway, I know one's personal experience is not data, merely anecdote, but as a non-vet, I don't personally know anyone who has ever been killed or wounded by a firearm (beyond slide bite) and so far as I know, neither do any of my long time friends with one exception, and that all relates to his experiences in Vietnam.