Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, right, gestures during a news conference as his wife, Dorothy and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, left, listen at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2017. (Photo: AP)
Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a known anti-gun zealot, used the shooting of Republicans practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game to push for gun control.
“This is not what today is about but there are too many guns on the street,” Gov. McAuliffe said. “We lose 93 million Americans a day to gun violence.”
The claim, which is of course false, was quickly challenged by reporters.
“Why are you bringing it up?” a reporter asked. “People are going to criticize that you are bringing up gun control at this time.”
Mr. McAuliffe’s claim is based on a fictitious statistic. He only corrected himself when challenged by a reporter who said that sounded like “a big number.” He amended his claim to 93 daily, which also doesn’t jive.
According to the latest violent crime statistics (2015) collected and released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the estimated number of murders in the nation was 15,696 for the year. That breaks down to roughly 43 murders each day, of which firearms were used in only 71.5%.
That breaks down to roughly 31 each day. While that’s not insignificant, it’s a far cry from the 93 per day Terry McAuliffe recklessly claimed.
