PolitiFact.com
Statements about Guns
Markel Hutchins

Markel Hutchins

Mostly True

Will that rifle complete your order?

There are twice as many gun shops as McDonald’s in the United States.

David Cicilline

David Cicilline

Half-True

Figure is 15 years old

More than 40 percent of sales nationally are made without background checks.

Joyce Beatty

Joyce Beatty

Mostly True

Numbers haven't changed much

Says each year approximately 30,000 people in the United States die as a result of gunfire, and about 80,000 people are wounded.  

Chris Redfern

Chris Redfern

Mostly True

He's got the bully pulpit

Says Gov. John Kasich can remove the president of the State Board of Education.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama

True

History, polling support claim

"A majority of Americans agree with" a ban on assault weapons. "And by the way, so did Ronald Reagan."  

Tom Barrett

Tom Barrett

Half-True

Dated data

40 percent of U.S. gun sales "are occurring outside of" licensed gun dealers.  

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

Half-True

Wrong on timing, right on weaknesses

Says the claim that 40 percent of guns are sold without background checks traces to information gathered before background checks were even required.

Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Half-True

Many can't be prosecuted

In 2009, the FBI "referred more than 71,000" cases of people failing background checks when trying to buy a gun to another federal agency, "but U.S. attorneys ultimately prosecuted only 77 of them."

Wayne LaPierre

Wayne LaPierre

Half-True

Bottomed out in 2009, up slightly since

"As a result of National Rifle Association and other private-sector (safety-education) programs, fatal firearms accidents are at the lowest level in 100 years."

Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz

False

Contradictions aren’t hard to find

Says "the jurisdictions with the strictest gun control laws, almost without exception … have the highest crime rates and the highest murder rates."

Marcy Kaptur

Marcy Kaptur

Mostly True

Cuts were largest in decades

"States have cumulatively cut over $1.8 billion from their mental health services between 2009 and 2011. This is the largest reduction in state mental health services in half a century."

Stephen King

Stephen King

Mostly True

It's no horror story

Says since Australia passed tough gun laws, "homicides by firearm have declined almost 60 percent."

David A. Clarke Jr.

David A. Clarke Jr.

Mostly False

Sheriff’s Office responds to few crime calls

"I had to lay off 48 people last year," which has exacerbated the lack of law enforcement officers in the county that respond quickly to crime calls.

Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott

True

Skips over handgun murders

Says according to the FBI, more people are killed each year with hammers and clubs than rifles.

Kirsten Gillibrand

Kirsten Gillibrand

Half-True

Figure is based on aging study

"Today, about 40 percent of guns are purchased without a background check."

Dianne Feinstein

Dianne Feinstein

Mostly True

It's hard to define 'assault weapon'

"One out of every five law enforcement officers that's killed is killed with an assault weapon."

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio

Half-True

Violence rose and fell, rose and fell

"Washington, D.C., had some of the strictest gun laws in the country. And when they passed them, violence skyrocketed."

Scott Walker

Scott Walker

Pants on Fire!

This arrow sailed over the target

"We just had someone last week in Neenah near a school kill someone with a bow and arrow."

Mike Ryan

Mike Ryan

Half-True

They often need a court order to get their guns back

People committed involuntarily for 72 hours under the Baker Act will get their guns back "automatically and immediately upon discharge....and their commitment is never entered into a background check database."

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

Coalition to Stop Gun Violence

Pants on Fire!

Group backfires on this attack ad

Says U.S. Rep. John Barrow, D-Ga., celebrates gun ownership even in the face of school shootings.

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