Why is the mainstream media peddling the gun lobby’s fake stats on Black gun ownership?
By Dr. Geoff Holtzman
Lead Data Scientist, Racial Data Lab
Boston University
For nearly three years, headlines have warned that, as The Hill put it, “Gun Ownership Among Black Americans Is Soaring,” up 58.2 percent. At least 20 of America’s most popular news outlets, including eight of its ten most trusted, have reported this statistic. Appearing in outlets like The Wall Street Journal as far back as August 2020, this so-called “research” has continued to be cited by outlets like Bloomberg as recently as October 2023. And all of these articles conclude that, in the words of Time magazine, “Racial Tensions in the U.S. Are Helping to Fuel a Rise in Black Gun Ownership.”
As it turns out, the dozens of articles implying that “Black Americans Flock to Gun Stores and Clubs” can be traced back to a gun lobbying group’s demonstrably meaningless promotional materials. In other words, the widely reported “58 percent” statistic is a sham—but its impact is real. The false narrative it props up will lead to more gun purchases by anti-Black racists, more accidental and self-inflicted gun deaths in Black communities, and more unjustified fears of Black Americans.
All of the articles I found either imply or conclude that Black people in particular began buying far more guns than usual in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. They all also suggest that scientific evidence supports this story. I was skeptical of both claims, so as an anti-racist data scientist, I decided to investigate their statistical basis. What I found was disconcerting.
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