In 2009, we wrote an Ask FactCheck item for readers who wanted to know, “Did gun control in Australia lead to more murders there last year?” The answer at the time was “no,” and that’s still the case.
Gun Control in Australia, Updated
Locations: National
Democrats Overstate Trump Tax Plan Effects
Democrats have used outdated or inflated figures to attack the GOP tax plan, when sticking to the facts would have served them just as well.
Obama’s Record on Toxic Cleanups
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt criticized former President Barack Obama for leaving “us with more Superfund sites than when he came in.” This is misleading for multiple reasons.
Tackling Fake Football Stories
Q: Did the NFL fine players who protested during the national anthem? Was a player fired for it? Are some players asking the league to host a month of anti-police activism? Will Fox Sports stop airing NFL games?
A: No. Three of those stories were made-up, and one is a gross misrepresentation.
Obama’s Final Numbers
The numbers are nearly all in now. What they show about what really happened during the eight years that Barack Obama was president is sometimes different from what politicians claimed.
‘Death Tax’ Talking Point Won’t Die
In calling for the repeal of the estate tax, President Donald Trump repeated a popular myth that a farmer’s heirs often have to “sell the farm” in order to pay the tax. In fact, less than 1 percent of the heirs of farm owners are expected to have to pay any estate tax.
No Nationwide Sharia Ban
Q: Has a judge banned Sharia law across the United States?
A: No. The judge pictured with a bogus headline proclaiming a nationwide ban was the host of a daytime court TV show.
The Preexisting Conditions Debate, Again
Republicans and Democrats are making competing claims on whether the latest GOP effort to repeal the ACA continues to protect those with preexisting medical conditions. Under the Graham-Cassidy bill, insurers couldn’t refuse to sell policies, but they could price plans based on health status in states that allowed it.
Natural Born Bunk
Q: Have Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Keith Olbermann introduced a bill that would do away with the requirement that the U.S. president be a natural born citizen?
A: No. Pelosi’s office confirmed that she has not, and Olbermann is not even a member of Congress.
Misquoting FactCheck.org
To set the record straight, FactCheck.org did not call the allegation that longtime Donald Trump associate Roger Stone had advance notice about hacked Democratic emails “false,” as Stone claimed in a recent op-ed. We said it is “not an established fact.”