Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Public Health: Still Double Counting

Monday, December 21, 2020

Public Health: Still Double Counting

We – the NRA specifically and the gun-owning community more generally – are quite familiar with efforts to label anything and everything a “public health issue” or even a “public health crisis.” We may not be certain of the threshold between an “issue” and a “crisis” when it comes to public health, but we are certain that the words have different meanings. 

To most people, anyways. Public health officials tend to blur the lines between words. Perhaps they do so because they view themselves as the hammer and all the world’s problems as a nail. The reason is not as important as the implications. Specifically, there is a difference between the words “with” and “from” but you’d never know that from talking to public health officials.

You see, public health officials are still treating anyone who passes away with COVID-19 as a death from COVID-19. We saw this happen this past spring in Washington where gunshot fatalities were counted as COVID-19 deaths, and an Oregon Health Authority spokesman admitted in August that someone who perished in a motorcycle accident would be counted as a COVID-19 fatality if the victim had the virus.

Nothing has changed. A coroner in Colorado reports that gunshot victims in her county are recorded as novel coronavirus deaths because the victims had recently tested positive – presumably before they were shot. The issue seems important to the coroner because it increases the COVID-19 fatality count in her county from three to five.

Curiously, the deaths are included in a “deaths among cases” count. Now, one may reasonably expect this category to include circumstances in which the virus may have contributed to the victim’s demise – like in a case in which a person has cancer and a weakened immune system. In these cases, however, the methodology seems inappropriate. This methodology increases the count of virus-related deaths and can be used to justify measures to restrict the spread of the virus.

That’s the justification for this “deaths among cases” category – to further enable public health surveillance. 

That’s what public health does – enables itself. Public health officials routinely conflate homicides and suicides when they talk about “gun violence” even though doing so severely limits their ability to provide any realistic policy recommendations. Public health officials must know this, but talking only about homicide would necessarily transfer authority to law enforcement and talking about suicide would place more emphasis on mental health treatment rather than public health. 

We don’t attribute the deliberate miscoding of COVID-19 fatalities to malicious intent. We do, however, question the intentions behind public health officials’ demand to count clearly unrelated deaths when the positive test results were already counted. Is anything gained by counting deaths among those who have the virus but died due to obviously unrelated causes or in unrelated circumstances?

Is anything gained by refusing to acknowledge that homicide and suicide are different problems requiring different policy approaches?

A reasonable person would conclude that the only policy path available when one conflates the two is further restrictions of firearms. 

Restrictions that would do nothing to rehabilitate criminals or treat suicidal ideation.

That’s why law-abiding gun owners are suspicious of public health efforts to curtail “gun violence” – they know their rights are the target. 

So does the NRA – and we’re ready to protect those rights against any infringement that comes concealed within the cloak of public health or otherwise.

TRENDING NOW
North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Permitless Carry

Last week the North Carolina General Assembly briefly returned from recess and re-referred Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to the House Rules Committee.

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule in NRA Case

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Federal Court Strikes Down Biden Administration’s “Engaged in the Business” Rule in NRA Case

Yesterday, in Butler v. Bondi, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama held that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives exceeded its statutory authority by issuing its 2024 Final Rule expanding ...

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

First Affirmative Lawsuit in Support of Gun Owners Filed by Trump’s DOJ

California officials’ egregious foot-dragging over the issuance of carry permits has finally attracted the ire of the federal Department of Justice (DOJ). 

President Trump’s GOP Leads Polling on Crime and Guns, To No Surprise

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

President Trump’s GOP Leads Polling on Crime and Guns, To No Surprise

A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that Americans know the President Donald Trump-led Republican Party has a better plan than their Democratic Party opponents on crime and gun control.

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Case Challenging the Federal Switchblade Act

Friday, October 3, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Fifth Circuit Case Challenging the Federal Switchblade Act

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief in Knife Rights, Inc. v. Bondi, urging the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas’s decision upholding the Federal ...

Trump Administration Repeals Biden Era Firearms Export Crackdown

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

Trump Administration Repeals Biden Era Firearms Export Crackdown

Last Monday, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the U.S. Department of Commerce published a final rule that reversed a crackdown on the commercial export of firearms from the U.S. to other countries.

Trust in Mass Media Craters to New Lows, in Single Digits With Republicans

News  

Monday, October 6, 2025

Trust in Mass Media Craters to New Lows, in Single Digits With Republicans

There’s an old saying that rings especially true to Second Amendment supporters: If you don’t read the news, you’re uninformed.

Alphabet Eases the Reins on Censorship; Will Gun Content Eventually Benefit?

News  

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Alphabet Eases the Reins on Censorship; Will Gun Content Eventually Benefit?

With the free speech debate recently co-opted by one TV host’s use of false and incendiary remarks about his political opponents, it might have been easy to miss another important First Amendment story last week. 

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

News  

Monday, September 29, 2025

Canada’s Public Safety Minister on Gun Ban & Confiscation: “Don’t Ask Me to Explain the Logic”

There have been multiple developments on the Canadian gun grab and ban in the last few days, but the most astounding has got to be a leaked bombshell recording of the Liberal Public Safety Minister, ...

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Friday, October 3, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Challenge to Hawaii’s Private Property Default Carry Ban

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Wolford v. Lopez, a challenge to Hawaii’s law forbidding carry on private property open to the public (such as restaurants, gas stations, and grocery stores) ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.