Local TV Anchor Issues Another Gun Fact-Check on Violent Crime, Assault Rifles -- and Piers Morgan

WXIX-TV's Ben Swann had a busy week, as the Cincinnati anchor's initial fact check of Piers Morgan's ongoing gun claims gained widespread (and viral) attention. TheBlaze recently spoke with Swann about his motivations for issuing the fact-driven analysis. During that discussion, the reporter noted that he was planning a follow-up video in his "Reality Check" series intended to dive further into the differences between the violent crime rates in the United Kingdom and the United States. On Wednesdy night, Swann released his new, investigative analysis.

Revisiting the numbers he provided in his first fact-check of Morgan's anti-gun claims, the reporter decided to re-approach the data to provide a more "apples-to-apples" comparison of violent crime as it occurs in both nations.

"I received messages from people living in Britain who told me those numbers were not entirely accurate, because the violent crime rate in the U.K. is figured very different than it is in the U.S.," Swann proclaims in the new clip.

WXIX-TV's Ben Swann issues yet another fact check on gun control and violent crime (Photo Credit: WXIX-TV)

Rather than ignore these responses, the anchor decided to revisit the numbers to be sure, as he contended previously, they show that the U.K. does, indeed, have a higher rate of violent crime than the U.S. Swann explained that the FBI Uniform Crime Report defines violent offenses as falling under these specific categories: murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. However, in Britain, violent crime is figured differently, as it encompasses "all crimes against the person." This ranges from simple assaults to sexual offenses.

While Swann said that it is difficult to determine the British crime rate based on the same U.S. metrics, a more apples-to-apples assessment was made -- one that corrects the reporter's previous claims against Morgan. But, contrary to what gun control advocates might hope, the new numbers still show that the U.K. has a higher violent crime rate.

"When you break down the apples to apples comparison of violent crime rates between the U.S. and Britain -- in 2010, the U.S. had 403 incidents per 100,000 people," Swann said in the clip. "The violent crime rate in Britain, while difficult to pin down, is at least 776 per 100,000 people. It's still nearly twice the rate as the U.S."

Swann also took the opportunity to note that assault rifles are getting large-scale media and political attention, but that it is actually handguns that pose more of a threat to American lives.

"When the argument is made that the way to protect children is to ban assault rifles and high capacity magazines -- statistically that number does not hold up," he proclaimed. "For those who are pro-gun control, why not go after handguns instead of assault rifles?"

The reporter posed this latter question to Morgan, who continues to push for greater gun control measures.

Watch the fact-check, below:

FOX19.com-Cincinnati News, Weather

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Related:

• Local TV Anchor Who Delivered Blistering Piers Morgan Gun Control Fact Check Tells TheBlaze Why He Did It
• Local TV Anchor Delivers Blistering Fact-Check of Piers Morgan’s Anti-Gun Claims