By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
When KOMO News, the ABC News affiliate in Seattle, Washington reported about downward trends in so-called “gun violence” throughout liberal King County—which encompasses the Jet City—public reaction was overwhelmingly skeptical.
In a viewer survey, asking how respondents would describe public safety in the county, a whopping 87 percent (at one point) said the situation is deteriorating.
The station was covering a new quarterly report from the county prosecutor, which claimed “gun violence” had “declined significantly in the first three months of 2026.” According to the reported data, the number of “shots fired” incidents during the first three months of this year was down 28 percent from the same period in 2025. During the first quarter of 2026, there have been nine fatal shootings and 42 people have been wounded by gunfire.
“Despite the decline,” the KOMO report said, “disparities persist among victims. Of the 51 total people shot in the first quarter, about 67% were identified as Black or African American, and 84% were male. Most victims were between the ages of 18 and 39, continuing patterns seen in previous years.”
The numbers suggest a lot of the violence is gang-related.
Only 1 percent of respondents think public safety has improved, while 5 percent said things are about the same and 8 percent agreed with this caveat” “Depends on location.”
Probably not helping with the story was an opinion column in the Seattle Times by Naomi Ishisaka, identified as “the social justice columnist and assistant managing editor for features, Pacific NW magazine, diversity, inclusion and staff development.”
When TGM reached out to Ishisaka via email, there was no reply.
Ishisaka’s column told a far different story, putting things in a different perspective at least. In her 975-word column, Ishisaka wrote about a Rainier Beach resident who had asked neighbors about how the issue of gun-related violence in their neighborhood has affected them. Putting it bluntly, it appears local residents have experienced “fear and anguish.”
The one common link between the KOMO report and Ishisaka’s column is the repeated use of the term “gun violence.” Second Amendment activists insist this is a bogus term because it demonizes firearms rather than the people who misuse them. After all, nobody uses terms such as “knife violence” to describe stabbings, and there have been several such crimes in the Seattle area recently including one homicide. Neither is there a mention of “blunt instrument violence” or “bare hands violence.”
Only guns get singled out.
A glance at reader reactions to Ishisaka’s column and to the KOMO report show considerable mistrust of local media and questioning of the data.
