The rhetoric may not be accurate, but it is definitely useful.
Criticism of President Donald Trump’s response to the COVID-19 epidemic has figured prominently at the Democratic National Convention this week. But last night the party shifted its focus to a different sort of epidemic. The actress Kerry Washington, the evening’s M. C., introduced the topic at the beginning of the program, saying « 90 percent of Americans support common-sense gun laws, because we need to do more to address the epidemic of gun violence. » A convention video continued the theme. « Long before this pandemic, our country has been suffering from an epidemic of gun violence, » a Florida gun control supporter identified as « Maria W. » says, describing murder by firearm as a « public health crisis. » Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden uses similar rhetoric. « Joe Biden knows that gun violence is a public health epidemic, » his campaign website says, introducing « The Biden Plan to End Our Gun Violence Epidemic. » This year’s Democratic platform likewise talks about « ending the epidemic of gun violence. » Leaving aside the question of whether the « common-sense gun laws » Biden favors would actually have a meaningful impact, is it accurate to describe gun violence in the United States as an « epidemic »? Obviously not in any literal sense, since gun violence is not caused by an infectious microorganism that spreads from person to person. Figuratively, however, the term epidemic implies a problem that is escalating and out of control, which is true of gun violence only if you focus on a narrow slice of the data.
