The editorial drumbeat against guns continues while the evidence mounts that gun deaths are decreasing. Two articles from last week illustrated these contradictory claims. The editorial board of the New York Times attacked what is called the “fantasy” that carrying a concealed weapon makes you safer. Meanwhile, Pew Research reported that the “nation’s overall gun death rate has decline 30% since 1993.”

The New York Times editorial cited statistics from the Violence Policy Center that “since 2007, at least 763 people have been killed in 579 shootings that did not involve self-defense.” There are some real problems with these statistics and the analysis.

First, these numbers lump suicides with other deaths. Suicides should be considered separately, because they have nothing to do with carrying a concealed weapon outside the home. John Lott has shown in his research that the suicide rate among concealed carry holders is lower than the general population.

Second, the study had to cover a period of seven years just to get the numbers high enough to sound scary. Remember that there are 12 million Americans that currently have concealed handgun permits. Given that large number of concealed carry holders, it is likely that a few of them over a seven-year period might have accidentally killed an innocent person while trying to bring down a perpetrator.

The Pew Research report noted that: “the increased spotlight on guns does not reflect the overall gun violence trend in the country. Although most Americans think the number of gun crimes has risen, the U.S. gun homicide rate has actually stabilized somewhat in recent years.” Actually the nation’s overall death rate has declined by 30 percent, and that percentage include homicides, suicides, police shootings, and accidental shooting deaths.

Sadly, many gun statistics used in editorials are being abused and misused.