Stossel & ABC's 20/20 Misrepresent Gun Violence Data

January 19, 2006

TV show downplayed problem of gun violence

I was astonished recently to see the ABC news program "20/20" portray the prevalence and significance of gun violence in America as a "media-fed myth." As a trauma surgeon, I can assure you that the daily deaths and disability caused by gun violence are a reality that should not be dismissed in this manner.

Commentator John Stossel made claims based on a misrepresentation of data and presented conclusions that cannot be supported by facts. Most disturbing was his implication that the risk of gun violence to children is exaggerated. In reporting that less than 100 children ages 15 and younger die annually due to gun accidents, he ignores the more than 500 deaths due to intentional injuries and the approximately 3,000 non-fatal firearm injuries in this group.

In Indianapolis in 2004, eight children younger than 15, 76 between 15 and 19, and 130 ages 20 to 24 were victims of gun violence. One in four victims of gun violence in Marion County dies of his injuries. These data are compiled from hospital, police and coroner reports and published annually by the Indiana Partnership to Prevent Violent Injury and Death.

Gun violence is a public health problem that calls for multiple strategies to prevent injury and death. Injuries and deaths can be prevented by working on multiple levels, from societal issues that breed gun violence to education about how to prevent it. When prevention fails, both the patient and the perpetrator should get medical treatment and criminal justice deterrence. This issue need not be about gun control versus gun rights. As long as we politicize this issue, we are wasting time and energy that could be spent solving the problem.

Erik Streib, M.D.
Director, Trauma, Surgical Critical Care Unit Wishard Health Services Board member, Indiana Partnership to Prevent Violent Injury and Death

From the Indianapolis Star