Statistics Can Prove Anything

You’ve probably heard the quote from Mark Twain about the three kinds of lies. You know…"lies, damned lies, and statistics." But you might never have heard of a statistics-gathering outfit known as the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). I hadn’t either until I ran across a Washington Post article a few days ago. The BRFSS was established in 1984 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct monthly telephone surveys on health-related questions.

For reasons known only to the CDC, this is a health-related question: "Are any firearms now kept in or around your home (including your garage, outdoor storage area, or motor vehicle)?" The table below shows the percentage by state—not necessarily of firearms owners, but the percentage of those people polled who answered "yes" to the question. (Yeah, Wyoming, you won!) I don’t know about you, but I usually hang up on telephone solicitors, and I sure as hell wouldn’t tell a stranger on the phone if I had firearms in my house.

But the numbers are interesting nonetheless. Basically, these numbers simply suggest that states with a more largely rural population have a higher percentage of firearm owners. Or maybe they just have a higher percentage of people willing to tell the truth to a telephone pollster.

Of course, if you want to be truly well informed, you can do an internet search on "BRFSS gun ownership," and you’ll find all kinds of convoluted "logic" applied to these numbers in an attempt to prove that more gun-owners means more violent crime. Wait a second…did I say "informed"?

I meant to say "amused." (Oh, and an honorable mention goes to Alaska, Montana, and South Dakota.) Yes (%) No (%) All Participants 31.7 68.3 Alabama 51.7 48.3 Alaska 57.8 42.2 Arizona 31.1 68.9 Arkansas 55.3 44.7 California 21.3 78.7 Colorado 34.7 65.3 Connecticut 16.7 83.3 Delaware 25.5 74.5 District of Columbia 3.8 96.2 Florida 24.5 75.5 Georgia 40.3 59.7 Hawaii 8.7 91.3 Idaho 55.3 44.7 Illinois 20.2 79.8 Indiana 39.1 60.9 Iowa 42.8 57.2 Kansas 42.1 57.9 Kentucky 47.7 52.3 Louisiana 44.1 55.9 Maine 40.5 59.5 Maryland 21.3 78.7 Massachusetts 12.6 87.4 Michigan 38.4 61.6 Minnesota 41.7 58.3 Mississippi 55.3 44.7 Yes (%) No (%) Missouri 41.7 58.3 Montana 57.7 42.3 Nebraska 38.6 61.4 Nevada 33.8 66.2 New Hampshire 30.0 70.0 New Jersey 12.3 87.7 New Mexico 34.8 65.2 New York 18.0 82.0 North Carolina 41.3 58.7 North Dakota 50.7 49.3 Ohio 32.4 67.6 Oklahoma 42.9 57.1 Oregon 39.8 60.2 Pennsylvania 34.7 65.3 Rhode Island 12.8 87.2 South Carolina 42.3 57.7 South Dakota 56.6 43.4 Tennessee 43.9 56.1 Texas 35.9 64.1 Utah 43.9 56.1 Vermont 42.0 58.0 Virginia 35.1 64.9 Washington 33.1 66.9 West Virginia 55.4 44.6 Wisconsin 44.4 55.6 Wyoming 59.7 40.3 Editor Keith Lawrence Technical