CNN’s Piers Morgan claimed Tuesday that Virginia had the highest murder rate in 2009 while discussing gun control with a guest on his show. That claim was entirely false, NewsBusters reports.
The FBI's 2009 Crime In the United States report placed Virginia behind 23 other states plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico in the murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rate per 100,000 inhabitants. And in case Morgan was referring to the firearm murder rate, Virginia still did not have the highest in the country.
Some of the states with the highest murder and nonnegligent manslaughter rates that year included Louisiana (11.8), New Mexico (8.7), Maryland (7.7), Tennessee (7.3), and Alabama (6.9). In contrast, Virginia's rate was 4.4 per 100,000 inhabitants. […]
On Tuesday, Morgan also used an accidental shooting by a gun safety instructor to push his gun control agenda. "Of course," he tweeted of the news of an instructor accidentally shooting a student in Ohio.
