GUNS: Stats don't tell entire story

Alecia Warren’s story in the Coeur d’Alene Press March 17 took up most of page 1 through 3. It appeared to support extensive gun control in the State of Idaho. It also appeared the research referred to was incomplete and meant to make all states having limited gun control laws as the cause of more people being killed. Included in this was a statement that the “Gem State’s firearm fatality rate is 11.8 per 100,000 individuals per year. Of those, 10.8 per 100,000 are suicides, and 1.1 per 100,000 are homicides.”

The report presented fatality rates for other states without a breakdown between homicides and suicides. It appears this was done intentionally to make it appear Idaho’s minimal number of gun laws was the cause of high fatality rates. What it shows me is that Idaho’s minimal number of gun control laws has aided in prevention of homicides and may have a social problem resulting in suicides. I say may have because without knowing what the suicide rates by all causes in all states is, it is not possible to compare state suicide rates or that guns are the cause of suicides.

Take a hard look at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report and you can easily see that Idaho’s laws concerning guns is resulting in a very low homicide rate. Now what is causing the suicides in Idaho and how does the total suicide rate in all the states compare with Idaho regardless of the tool used to initiate it? Alecia Warren, your bias is showing and as presented is incomplete journalism.

RALPH A. WHEELER

Spirit Lake