Newly Discovered Data Proves Why We Can’t Trust the CDC on Guns

Few who read this magazine are likely to be unaware of the anti-gun leanings of the Center for Disease Control, which for years has worked to treat firearm ownership like a disease that needs to be eradicated. But, newly discovered polling by the CDC shows just how far the agency is willing to go to hide evidence of the positive aspects of gun ownership. To fully explain the recent discovery, a look at the history of Defensive Gun Use research is necessary: The year is 1996. The Right to Carry movement is building momentum across the United States after violent crime peaked in the early 1990s. Criminologists Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz just published a study estimating that 2.5 million Americans used a firearm to defend themselves against another person in 1993. Gun-control advocates scoff at the number, though Kleck refutes the criticisms levied at his work (and does so even today). The surest way to confirm, cast doubt upon, or refute any research is replication. The CDC had recently entered the “gun violence research” field, publishing a flawed study clearly designed to advocate for gun control in 1993. Shortly after Kleck and Gertz published their research, the CDC began collecting data that could have been part of the debate over the hot-button issue of how often lawful gun owners use their guns in self-defense. They collected data on defensive gun use for three years (in 1996, 1997, and 1998) in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) surveys. This data collection was not discovered until Kleck just recently came across it while looking for data on another topic. While Kleck is currently analyzing the data and comparing it to his own, something is clearly amiss. For 20 years, this data went unnoticed. Like some buried treasure, Kleck luckily discovered it essentially by accident.