Christian Science Monitor Continues to Cite 90 Percent Number

Is it possible that some in the media just like a fact so much that they’ll continue to report on it, despite the “fact” that it isn’t even true? The latest example comes from The Christian Science Monitor, which notes the number of gun shops along “the border” with Mexico, but worse the outlet continues to spew that notorious 90 percent number, long after it has been disproved.

“The cartels hire people without criminal records to buy a handful of weapons at a time, from licensed dealers – there are 6,600 along the border alone – or private individuals at gun shows, and then drive them across the border. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and Explosives estimates that 90 percent of the traced firearmss [sic] recovered in Mexico originated in the US.”

First, what exactly is meant by along the border? It isn’t as if there are gun shops with signs that say, “last gun shop before you leave the U.S.A.” No, these just happen to be privately owned shops located in towns 100 or so miles within the border. When you factor in that there many reasonably sized cities near the border with Mexico, it is easy to understand that there are going to be gun shops. Should these businesses close because they happen to be too close to Mexico?

But worse, how can the CSM cite a number that even BATFE doesn’t support anymore. There has never been proof of this number, and on the contrary it has been essentially disproved, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping the mainstream media from quoting this figure.