I got curious about the Alabama stat of 1 firearm death. It looked too good to be true. It was. The writer of this article either decided to mislead the readers or is an idiot. Instead of Alabama being one of the least likely places in the US to be killed by a firearm, it is one of the most likely. Articles like this one are designed to rev up the people who already agree with their premise and who are not very likely to doubt the numbers. It is a classic example of "fake news." We need to look at articles like this with a critical eye, just to be sure.
This is what I found after a couple of hours of research. It is likely that the 1 firearm death data point probably comes from an FBI "Crime in the United States Annual Report" sometime since 2010, but those reports clearly note that "Limited supplemental homicide data were received" from Alabama. For some reason, Alabama stopped sending accurate data to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2010. Before that, Alabama reported a significant number of murders by firearm. In 2009, that number was 229. It sent no data in 2011 and since then report shows 1 or 2 firearm murders per year. It also shows only 1 to 3 total murders for the state for the entire year.
I though it important to find credible data after all this mess. Sadly it is not good. I wonder if that is why Alabama stopped sending info to the FBI and why their Department of Health removed "mortality data" from the site menus in 2017. That made it a pain to find any official numbers. Here is the most recent information I found on an "official" state website, al.com:
"In 2017 in Alabama, 1,100 people died from complications of gunshot wounds?573 suicides, 506 homicides, and 21 accidental discharges, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
Each of those deaths contributed to the Center for Disease Control naming Alabama second deadliest in the nation for firearm fatalities." https://www.al.com/news/2019/06/alabama-...eaths.html
The most recent official Alabama Dept of Public Health written report that I could find had data was from 2016: It listed "Homocide by discharge of firearms " at 454 for the year.
http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/healt...VS2016.pdf
I think that it is important to make factual arguments. Putting foreword "facts" that are easily disproved erodes our credibility and does not help our case for the 2A at all.
This is what I found after a couple of hours of research. It is likely that the 1 firearm death data point probably comes from an FBI "Crime in the United States Annual Report" sometime since 2010, but those reports clearly note that "Limited supplemental homicide data were received" from Alabama. For some reason, Alabama stopped sending accurate data to the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) in 2010. Before that, Alabama reported a significant number of murders by firearm. In 2009, that number was 229. It sent no data in 2011 and since then report shows 1 or 2 firearm murders per year. It also shows only 1 to 3 total murders for the state for the entire year.
I though it important to find credible data after all this mess. Sadly it is not good. I wonder if that is why Alabama stopped sending info to the FBI and why their Department of Health removed "mortality data" from the site menus in 2017. That made it a pain to find any official numbers. Here is the most recent information I found on an "official" state website, al.com:
"In 2017 in Alabama, 1,100 people died from complications of gunshot wounds?573 suicides, 506 homicides, and 21 accidental discharges, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
Each of those deaths contributed to the Center for Disease Control naming Alabama second deadliest in the nation for firearm fatalities." https://www.al.com/news/2019/06/alabama-...eaths.html
The most recent official Alabama Dept of Public Health written report that I could find had data was from 2016: It listed "Homocide by discharge of firearms " at 454 for the year.
http://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/healt...VS2016.pdf
I think that it is important to make factual arguments. Putting foreword "facts" that are easily disproved erodes our credibility and does not help our case for the 2A at all.