I love it when examples make themselves apparent. Shortly after I posted about the whole idea that burden of proof is on the accuser Uncle posted a story where the accuser presents not facts to backup their claim.
The claim made by Salon author Gene Lyons is, “Guns costs more lives than they save.” The numbers provided to backup that claim? Nonexistent. The author provides a couple of unverified (no link or description of where the story originated from) stories where police officers were shot in the line of duty. Oh and the author flat out lies about this:
Anyway, here’s the thing: In the wake of the Tucson tragedy, handgun advocates argue that a well-armed private citizen could have saved lives by putting a decisive end to alleged gunman Jared Loughner’s mad act. Never mind that Arizona has the most permissive gun laws in the country. Indeed, the killer had broken no laws until he shot Rep. Gabrielle Giffords at point-blank range.
Emphasis mine.
Actually he committed a crime when he purchased the firearm because he was a user of marijuana which legally prohibited him from possessing a firearm.
See how that works? I made a claim and backed it up with citations of evidence.