Narrative vs. Reality

Each entry follows the same simple format:

1. The Narrative: the claim as it usually appears in headlines, ads and speeches.
2. The Record: what the primary data or documents actually say, with links.
3. What's Left Out: the context that changes the picture.
4. Bottom Line: one or two plain sentences.

We don't call a claim "false" if it's technically true. Many of the most effective talking points are true as worded and misleading in how they're used, and we say exactly which kind each one is.

Entries

• "Guns are the leading cause of death for kids": misleading. It's true only if you don't count the unborn. Abortion outnumbers gun deaths more than a hundred to one, and even the CDC's own figure counts 18- and 19-year-olds as "kids."
• "'Assault weapons' are the weapon of choice for criminals": the FBI's own homicide tables say otherwise.

Planned entries (stubs, coming soon)

1. "The Second Amendment only protects muskets." What Heller (2008) actually said about arms that didn't exist at the founding. stub
2. "The Second Amendment is about the National Guard." The militia, "the people," and the Court's reading. stub
3. "No one needs a standard-capacity magazine." What the data says about magazines and defensive gun use. stub
4. "Gun-show loophole." What federal law requires of dealers and of private sellers. stub
5. "Universal background checks would have stopped [shooting X]." Case-by-case look at how the guns were obtained. stub
6. "Defensive gun uses are a myth." The surveys, the ranges, and why estimates differ. stub
7. "Ghost guns are untraceable weapons of mass destruction." Home-built firearms in federal law and in the data. stub
8. "Real socialism has never been tried." What the Bolsheviks promised in 1917 and what they put on paper. stub
9. "Democratic socialism is just Scandinavia." What Nordic governments themselves say about their market economies. stub
10. "City-owned grocery stores will lower prices." The record of municipal and state-run stores. stub
11. "Rent control makes housing affordable." What economists across the spectrum have found. stub
12. "Colorado is a low-tax state." Fees, TABOR and the numbers behind the claim. stub
13. "Red flag laws only take guns from dangerous people." Due process, hearings and how often petitions are denied. stub