Yes. Reasons include high gun ownership, cultural factors, sensationalized media coverage, and gaps in mental health care and law enforcement.
Category: Fact briefs
Wisconsin Watch is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.
Read more about how Wisconsin Watch checks claims for the fact briefs, and contact us at factbriefs@wisconsinwatch.org
Posted inFact briefs
Has research found that armed officers deter school shootings?
No. A 2024 RAND report and two experts in mass shootings said they know of no research concluding that the presence of armed officers deters school shootings.
Posted inFact briefs
Does the US import more food than it exports?
Yes. The value of food imported into the U.S. exceeds what is exported.
Posted inFact briefs
Has Wisconsin’s Act 10 union law saved taxpayers billions of dollars?
Yes. The law achieved savings mainly by shifting costs for pension and health benefits to public employees.
Posted inFact briefs
Did Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford try to overturn Act 10?
Yes. Susan Crawford was among attorneys who sued seeking to overturn Act 10, which effectively ended collective bargaining for most Wisconsin public employee unions.
Posted inFact briefs
Do Wisconsin election officials verify citizenship when a person registers to vote?
No. But falsely claiming citizenship at registration is a felony, and there’s no evidence of noncitizens voting in meaningful numbers.
Posted inFact briefs
Is there a legal way to get raw milk in Wisconsin?
Yes. But only at a farm. Otherwise it is illegal to sell in the state of Wisconsin.
Posted inFact briefs
Does it take six months on average for the US Senate to confirm a president’s nominees?
Yes. The average number of days has more than doubled under presidents elected since the 1980s.
Posted inFact briefs, Forward, Government
Here are some claims made by Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks — and the facts
As President-elect Donald Trump stocks his Cabinet with some of his most loyal followers, we’ve already checked some of their surprising and dubious claims. Here’s a look at a few of them.
Posted inFact briefs
Did a late night ‘ballot dump’ in Milwaukee cost Eric Hovde the US Senate election?
No. Milwaukee counts absentee ballots at a central location and reports the totals only when they are finished.
Posted inFact briefs
Has Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford opposed Wisconsin’s voter ID law?
Yes. Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford has opposed the state’s voter identification law.
Posted inFact briefs
Has 83% of the money from Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts gone to the top 1%?
No. Higher-income Americans have received the largest savings from the 2017 tax cut law signed by President Donald Trump, but the top 1% have not received 83% of the savings.