CLAIM: During a March 21, 2023, appearance on ABC’s The View, actor Billy Porter screamed that “the leading cause of death in children are guns.”
VERDICT: False.
Watch below:
Porter’s claim became a common one among leftists and non-fact-checking moderates in the summer of 2022, after a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was widely reported in late May of that year.
For example, FOX News ran a story titled “Guns now the leading cause of death for US children, per CDC.” The story noted that CDC figures show firearm-related deaths of people ages 0-19 totaled 4,368 in 2020, while motor vehicle deaths for the same age range totaled 4,036.
And during a June 2, 2022, speech, President Joe Biden reacted to the CDC figures by claiming: “Guns are the number one killer of children.”
However, Breitbart News dug into in the CDC figures and ascertained that the only way to claims made by Biden and others — the same claim which Porter screamed on The View — is to count 18 and 19-year-olds as children. But if one does a custom search on the CDC website and adjusts the category of children to include only those aged 0-17, only those below voting and or military age, then the outcome completely flips.
One sees that the number of firearm-related deaths for children aged 0-17 was 2,281 in 2020, while the number of motor vehicle deaths for the same ages was 2,503.
Moreover, and just as importantly, even if one keeps the parameters wide and counts persons aged 0-19 as children, a search on the CDC website shows that unintentional car deaths among children were 27 times higher than unintentional gun deaths among the same age group.
Porter screamed about children and gun deaths during a segment that was focused on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) actions’ against drag queen shows for children.
After screaming, Porter re-emphasized his claim on the leading cause of death among children, saying, “I know it’s the morning and I’m not supposed to be screaming, but they’re guns. Not drag queens. Leave us alone.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com
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