Politifact shoots down Ilhan Omar's false claim about gun violence

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) made a claim about the number of deaths from gun violence in the United States and Politifact found the figure severely lacking in truth.

"Gun violence is an epidemic," Omar tweeted. "Every day on average 500 people die from gun violence. How many more lives will we let gun violence claim?"

Supporting my colleagues’ call on Senate Majority Leader to vote on H.R. 8, 1112 & 1158.
Gun violence is an epidemic.
Every day on average 500 people die from gun violence. How many more lives will we let gun violence claim?
Retweeting: https://t.co/ty5taOLeOC

— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 5, 2019

Unfortunately for Omar, not only did Politifact find her claim to be overblown and exaggerated, but they couldn't even decipher where she got the false statistic.

"At 500 per day, that would be 182,500 deaths per year from gun violence in the United States," wrote Politifact's Tom Kertscher.

"The actual figure is nowhere near that high," he added.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were an average of 109 total gun-related deaths per day in 2017, the latest year for which the data are available.

When taken as an average over many years, from 2013 to 2017, the average is 100 per day. 

Both figures are far less than 500 per day, and they include suicide deaths, which some argue should not be included in the gun debate.

Kertscher said Omar's office claimed she meant deaths worldwide, but those statistics don't match up either, and he added that it was in the context of legislation that would affect gun violence in the U.S. only.

Politifact rated Omar's statement false.