DEAN'S COMMENT ON GUN VIOLENCE WAS INACCURATE

[Nicholas_J]

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT - GOVERNOR DEAN'S COMMENT ON GUN VIOLENCE WAS INACCURATE


The candidate said states like Tennessee with low homicide rates don't need strong gun laws.

In last night's Democratic Presidential primary debate in Baltimore, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean was inaccurate in his efforts to illustrate his longstanding argument that "we need to resist attempts to tell states how to deal with guns beyond existing federal law."

Governor Dean cited Tennessee as a state with a low homicide rate. He was incorrect. Tennessee has both overall high homicide rates and high gun homicide rates. Tennessee has the eighth highest homicide rate and the sixth highest gun homicide rate in the nation, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 6.16 per 100,000 individuals living in Tennessee are murdered by firearms, whereas the national rate of firearm homicides is 3.92. In 2000, there were a total of 343 gun homicides in Tennessee.


http://www.bradycampaign.org/press/release.asp?Record=506

[Procopius]

1. The more Brady trashes Dean, the more they help Bush

They should be trashing Bush instead. He has the exact same view on guns.

[Procopius]

2. Further Dean OPPOSES lawsuit immunity for gun makers

Doesn't Brady oppose it too?

[billbuckhead]

3. Brady is just reporting actual statistics. Dean was "inaccurate"

I wonder why he was wrong? Did gunners lie to him and his staff didn't vet it? Was it wishful thinking or NRA propaganda? I know Dean didn't lie, he just...................

[DrFunkenstein]

4. Bush Vs. Dean In A Debate

In which both candidates are given a pass as not really being in control of what comes out of their mouths.

Dean's better than this. He's got to cut out the sloppy mistakes, though.

[DJcairo]

10. I agree...I mean, what was he thinking?

[dsc]

12. are they?

There is another thread on this with the CDC link. That link appears to link to gun deaths not gun homicides. The author of that thread uses the same per capita figures as are used here. Ergo those numbers would appear to be gun deaths not gun homicides would they not?

[delhurgo]

5. I think this was really more of a political point Dean was trying...

...to make. He's reminding dems that Gore lost his own state due, in part, to this issue.

He was incorrect about Tennessee homicide rates. They are among the highest in the nation. But so is all crime, in general, in the state. This probably has more to do with poverty than it does with gun laws.

Tenn is sort of centrist in relation to the other states in the nation in its restrictions on guns. So I'd say its hard to make a case either way. Consider though that Vermont is among the states with the 'least restrictive' gun laws, and has amongst the lowest homocide rates in the nation. New York, on the other hand has some of the most restrictive, and has a high crime rate.

I think this is Dean's point; he saying that each state is different, so its best that each handle gun laws the way that best suits their own state. I don't see how you can argue with that.

[sandnsea]

6. He can't do this

He used the state of Tennessee as an example as to why some states don't need gun laws, they've got low crime rates like Vermont. He was flat wrong about Tennessee. I know what his intentions were, but he can't make blunders like this as the Presidential candidate. And it isn't just one, it's over and over again. I sincerely hope he gets it together, I really do. No matter who the candidate is, I have to support him!

[MercutioATC]

8. He said states like, say Tennessee...

He was using Tennessee as an example of a rural state with more of a minority population that Vermont. It IS true the he misspoke about Tennessee having low homicide rates, but the emphasis was supposed to be on rural states with significant minority populations.

A slip, but hardly a major gaffe.

[sandnsea]

11. he misspoke

I sure wish I could do a search of DU over the last few months to see how many times 'misspoke' comes up. The south has high homicide rates per capita, if he didn't specifically know the homicide rate in Tennessee, his common sense should have veered him away from naming a southern state. Unless he just didn't know. This isn't a big deal, but that it's part of a pattern is. That's what I said, he does it over and over. He needs to get it together.

[genius]

7. Dean makes all kinds of incorrect statements in the debates.

Every time he's in a debate, the next day there's fallout over things he got wrong - mostly it's his past positions he got wrong. He is not the guy we want debating Bush. Bush will make mincemeat out of him and the press will have a field day afterwords.

[unfrigginreal]

9. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Do you really think that anyone but Kerry supporters read your threads anymore? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah I'm here so I read it...NOT...I didn't read anything but the headline and that's my point! Why do you post this garbage? I'll support your right to, but I don't see how it does you anygood.