During a news conference on March 23, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin responded to the death of a bill in the Wisconsin Legislature which would have expanded background checks for firearms. Soglin claimed, “The latest statistics demonstrated that if there is a firearm available, it is 17 times more likely to be used either for suicide or for assaulting a friend, relative an acquaintance than it is to be used in fending off an intruder.” In light of recent debates about how to address gun violence, The Observatory decided to check the validity of this claim. 
Mayor’s claim about gun violence may be off, but stats still alarming
['Democratic_Party_(United_States)', 'Wisconsin']