Retired NYPD Sgt: The reality behind gun violence numbers

New Jersey has notoriously been known as one of the toughest states to acquire a gun permit. With statistics regarding gun control continuing to spiral out of control, I wanted a former police sergeant's perspective.

Former NYPD Sergeant and college professor Joe Giacalone spoke with me Tuesday about how politicians that talk about crime statistics are actually ill-informed, including specifically referencing to Hilary's comments about gun violence during this weekend's debate.

"The other night in the debate, Hillary Clinton mentioned we lose 33,000 people a year to gun violence," he said. "It peaked my interest because I know the stats very well. In 2013, where she had referenced, actually she used the CDC numbers which are the Center for Disease Control. But there were only 14,196 murders that year and only 69 percent  of those had to do with firearms, so you're really talking about 9.795 That's gun violence."

He continued: "Now, included in her number were over 21,00 suicides. Now listen, any family that's been a victim of having a member of suicide, it's a terrible thing, but for law enforcement purposes its not considered gun violence. That's where the misleading quote comes in. Because when people hear a quote like  33,00 gun violence, they think there is 33,000 murders in this country a year."

Listen to the full interview with former NYPD Sergeant Joe Giacalone in the clip above.

Bill Spadea is the host of the morning show here on NJ 101.5 as well as the host of the Chasing News TV program. You can hear his opinion about all things New Jersey here, or by tweeting @BillSpadea.