Earlier we reported on the list of 74 purported “school shooting” incidents published by Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety, and how one journalist was able to show with a few quick Google searches that the vast majority of these incidents failed to fit even the loosest commonly accepted definition of “school shootings.” My estimate was that about seven were true “spree killer” style school shootings, and it looks like CNN has been double-checking the math as well. Out of seventy-four claimed by EGS, the network was only able to validate 15 . . .
From CNN:
CNN determined that 15 of the incidents Everytown included were situations similar to the violence in Oregon — a minor or adult actively shooting inside or near a school. That works out to about one shooting every five weeks.
CNN lists these events and even a cursory glance reveals that they’ve been generous in their own assessment. There are multiple instances in their pared-down compilation where the school was not the target, and was only tangentially involved.
It’s sad that there are still even that many shooting incidents, but there are two huge takeaways from this article:
1) Bloomberg and his Flacks Need to Lie to Maintain the Appearance of Relevance
Facts. Statistics. Logic. These are the cornerstones of intelligent debate, and have never really been on the radar for gun control groups. Banning guns is a business of pure emotion, and the only reason they include even the massaged statistics they do is to give the trappings of proper scientific vetting.
Every time Bloomberg or one of his employees publishes something like this trumped up tally, in the end it only really re-enforces the notion that the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex couldn’t give a fig about the truth. And it isn’t bringing anyone over to their side.
2) The Mainstream Media Isn’t Buying It
If this were 2012, CNN and the rest of the MSM would have been uncritically boosting Everytown and their dubious map of school shootings. This time around, though, only the most rabidly anti-gun and partisan media outlets ran with the story before checking the facts. Mother Jones, Huffington Post and a few others regurgitated the list as if it were gospel, but it didn’t make as big a splash as expected. Sure there was the usual “viral” spread through the already anti-gun minority. But by the time it got to CNN, the story was no longer about the list — it was about how it had been debunked with a resultant scramble to save what little credibility remained.
Stories like these don’t help the gun control extremists’ cause. This takedown by isn’t exactly an open endorsement of the NRA, but when even CNN can’t back up your claims, you know you’re in trouble.