The Volokh Conspiracy - BBC Revision of the "Handguns Are Used in Most US Assaults and Robberies" Claim:

The BBC story I discussed yesterday has been revised.

The "Handguns are used in most US assaults and robberies" caption has been changed to "The debate over handguns is politically charged in the US," and the "Handguns are used in two-thirds of robberies and assaults and in half of murders in the US, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigations" line has been replaced with "Firearms, including handguns, are used in two-thirds of murders and about 42.2% of robberies committed in the US, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigations." Both of the new statements are correct, though as I noted earlier, the FBI robbery statistics are probably less reliable than the Department of Justice survey-based statistics, which estimate handgun use at 26.3%.

In any case, I'm pleased that the BBC revised the story, whether based on my e-mail to them or on others'. (Note that the "Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 22:21 GMT" doesn't reflect this change; compare the cached version, which contains the errors but has the same timestamp.) If anyone can point me to any BBC page that specifically notes the correction, I'll be happy to note that as well.

	[Eugene Volokh, November 22, 2007 at 1:45pm] Trackbacks BBC Revision of the "Handguns Are Used in Most US Assaults and Robberies" Claim: The BBC story I discussed yesterday has been revised. The "Handguns are used in most US assaults and robberies" caption has been changed to "The debate over handguns is politically charged in the US," and the "Handguns are used in two-thirds of robberies and assaults and in half of murders in the US, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigations" line has been replaced with "Firearms, including handguns, are used in two-thirds of murders and about 42.2% of robberies committed in the US, according to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigations." Both of the new statements are correct, though as I noted earlier, the FBI robbery statistics are probably less reliable than the Department of Justice survey-based statistics, which estimate handgun use at 26.3%. In any case, I'm pleased that the BBC revised the story, whether based on my e-mail to them or on others'. (Note that the "Last Updated: Tuesday, 20 November 2007, 22:21 GMT" doesn't reflect this change; compare the cached version, which contains the errors but has the same timestamp.) If anyone can point me to any BBC page that specifically notes the correction, I'll be happy to note that as well. Related Posts (on one page): BBC Revision of the "Handguns Are Used in Most US Assaults and Robberies" Claim: "[D.C. Officials] Argue Handguns Are Involved in Most Violent Crime": "Handguns Are Used in Most US Assaults and Robberies,"