When we're talking about guns or any other hot-button issue, you're going to see everyone and their brother trying to make the case that their side is right. They're going to appeal to emotion and they're going to present statistics.
However, a lot of times, those statistics are used not to support facts, but to help perpetuate lies. A recent op-ed is a prime example of just that behavior as the writer tries to make the case that healthcare workers desperately need gun control.
This comes to us out of Pennsylvania, where the author starts with a scary story about a shooting at a hospital. This is a common enough tactic, of course, because scared people are far more willing to give up their rights than those who are unafraid.
Then we get into the fun stuff.
As I grocery shopped with my infant daughter at the store next to UPMC Memorial, unbeknownst to us, one of the more terrifying attacks on U.S. healthcare workers in recent memory was taking place next door.
While this may seem unimaginable, violence against frontline healthcare workers – the same people potentially working to save your loved one – is shockingly high. A recent study found about 20 healthcare workers were killed at work every year.
The medical field is consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous careers when it comes to workplace violence – unregulated access to firearms makes this public health emergency even more urgent.
Now, let's understand that nothing here is factually incorrect.
Yet it's all put together in such a way to make it look like something it's not.
First, yes, that recent study found about 20 healthcare workers are killed at work each year. However, the study in question didn't compare it to any other profession. It just looked at healthcare workers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics, however, did.
What they found was that a lot of occupations see far more workplace homicides. Taxi drivers and chauffeurs, for example, see 17.9 workplace homicides per 100,000 workers. Compare that to 20 workplace homicides among 22 million healthcare workers in the United States.
Additionally, police officers, security guards, truck drivers, and executives and managers all face much higher rates of workplace homicides.
Finally, let's talk about that "one of the most dangerous careers when it comes to workplace violence" thing. That is absolutely true, but not because they're targeted for so-called gun violence at a ridiculously high rate compared to the bulk of the population. No, what happens is that you have a situation where you have patients who might not be in their right minds, family members who don't understand what's going on and are likely to lash out, and a host of other factors that may contribute to violent outbursts, but we're talking about simple assaults here.
I'm not excusing any of this, mind you. Assaults shouldn't happen, especially on people are just trying to help others, but it's not the same as pretending they're getting shot in some massive number.
What happened in that quoted section is that the author used multiple facts to paint a picture that is, at its heart, a lie. He wants you to get the image of healthcare workers being gunned down regularly and that gun control is absolutely essential because the risk to these healthcare workers is so high.
But if guns vanished tomorrow, the violence against healthcare workers wouldn't drop a noticeable degree overall. It's also possible that we wouldn't even notice much of a dip in the murder rate for healthcare workers while at work since the linked study doesn't even list what kind of weapon was used in these homicides.
Yet the truth isn't relevant, only that there are links and verifiable claims the author can hide behind while pushing a narrative that has no resemblance to reality.
And this is far from unique.
