Gun Violence: Understand The Statistics

"Listen to the southern right talk about violence in America and you’d think New York City was as dangerous as Bakhmut on Ukraine’s eastern front.

"In October, Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis proclaimed crime in New York City was 'out of control' and blamed it on George Soros. Another Sunshine State politico, former president Donald Trump, offered his native city up as a Democrat-run dystopia, one of those places 'where the middle class used to flock to live the American dream are now war zones, literal war zones.' In May 2022, hours after 19 children were murdered at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott swatted back suggestions that the state could save lives by implementing tougher gun laws by proclaiming 'Chicago and L.A. and New York disprove that thesis.'

"In reality, the region the Big Apple comprises most of is far and away the safest part of the U.S. mainland when it comes to gun violence, while the regions Florida and Texas belong to have per capita firearm death rates (homicides and suicides) three to four times higher than New York’s. On a regional basis, it’s the southern swath of the country — in cities and rural areas alike — where the rate of deadly gun violence is most acute, regions where Republicans have dominated state governments for decades."

Memo to conservatives: be honest and talk "per capita" and not "total" by locale.

The Surprising Geography of Gun Violence

Republican America Is Worse Than Democrat America

Republicans like to lie about the difference between rural Republican areas of the US as compared to the more urban Democratic areas. 

Click on the link below that presents the FACTS that are readily available. Note how they are comparing per capita statistics and not the gross numbers that distort the truth because of the generally less populated areas:

The Truth About Red And Blue USA

Be Aware Of Where "Statistics" Are From

"The manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines say they are 95% effective. Peter Doshi re-examined the evidence and estimates they are only 19-29% effective. This pre-print of an as-yet unpublished re-analysis raises many questions but doesn’t support the claims being made on antivaccine sites.

"A correspondent asked for my opinion about a study that he said has been appearing widely on COVID-19 vaccine disinformation sites with claims that it proves that the vaccines are not safe or that it shows there is ' - - - a 300% greater chance of landing in the hospital from the vaccine than from Covid itself.' I read the study. In the first place, I don’t think it showed any such thing. In the second place, there were several things about the study that made me distrust it: - - - "(STATISTICAL SHENANIGANS?)

Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics

This phrase describes the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point (link). The link below presents the proper understanding of statistics.

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"Is punishment or reward more effective as feedback? Do new medical treatments really work? What about streaks in sport? Without considering regression to the mean, we are prone to making significant errors."

How We're Fooled By Statistics