Grading PolitiFact: Frank Lautenberg and murders or guns or something (Updated)

Those of us on the right have watched with a combination of amusement and anger as many figures on the left have tried to politicize the attack on Rep. Gabriella Giffords that left nine dead and Giffords critically wounded.  The initial attempt to politicize the event painted the gunman's attack as the result of heightened political rhetoric from (where else?) the right.  People aren't buying that, so the next best thing is to use the event to push for gun control.  And PolitiFact was there.

Fortunately, PolitiFact changed its usual practice and had both the writer and the editor of the story publicly announce their positions on gun control prior to publishing the story.

Just kidding.

The issue:

The fact checkers:

Louis Jacobson: writer, researcher
Martha Hamilton: editor

Analysis:

PolitiFact adequately provides the setting:

One of the lawmakers who made the case for tightening gun laws was Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J. In an interview on MSNBC on Jan. 11, 2011. Lautenberg -- who is preparing legislation to ban high-capacity gun clips like the ones used in the Tucson attack -- said, "But the fact of the matter is, when we look at the number of murders in the United States, 2009, we had 9,500 people murdered. When we look around the world, we see large companies -- large countries, the U.K., Germany, Japan had 200 or less killed in a year."

The wider context of Lautenberg's statement shows that PolitiFact is hiding Lautenberg's underlying argument--that is, the justification he's giving for tightening gun laws:

QUESTION: All right. Well, let`s say that the -- the cartridges had remained banned, that you would not be able to carry 33 rounds in one extended magazine. Ten rounds is still enough to kill the same amount of victims that we have here, the people who died in the shooting on Saturday.So why is that clip the focus of your energy and your attention now?

LAUTENBERG: Well, because it`s the one thing that, obviously, permitted this madman to hit so many people in such a short period of time. And thank goodness we had some heroic actions that interrupted his ability to put in another magazine. Otherwise we`d have seen a greater loss. But the fact of the matter is, when we look at the number of murders in the United States, 2009, we had 9,500 people murdered. When we look around the world, we see large companies -- large countries, the U.K., Germany, Japan had 200 or less killed in a year. And we`re at 9,500. There`s got to be a reason for that. We don`t have more madmen, but we have more guns.

QUESTION: Why is this magazine your focus and not mental health?

To me, it should go without saying that a cherry-picked comparison of firearm murder rates between the United States and three other nations--two of which might as well be living on an island--is not the basis for a good argument.  PolitiFact apparently chooses its battles when it comes to that sort of thing.

Back to the fact checking: