CLAIM: While introducing executive action for more gun control Thursday night, Vice President Kamala Harris (D) claimed that guns are the No. 1 killer of children.
VERDICT: False.
President Joe Biden first made this claim on June 2, 2022. Breitbart News pointed out that it was false then and it is false now, even though numerous Hollywood leftists and Democrat politicians have repeated it ad nauseum.
When Biden originally made the claim he said, “Guns are the number one killer of children.”
His claim, which is the same claim Harris is now making, is only true if you count 18- and 19-year-olds as children.
On May 26, 2022, FOX News noted that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) figures showed 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.
However, Breitbart News did a custom search on the CDC numbers, limiting the category of “children” to those 0-17 years of age, i.e., those below voting age, and the data completely flipped
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.
While doing the research, Breitbart News noted that even in the expanded age range of 0-19, CDC numbers show unintentional motor vehicle deaths were 27 times higher than unintentional firearm-related deaths.
The claim was false when Biden made it in 2022 and it is false as Harris makes it now.
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, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: awrhawkins@breitbart.com.