United States to fund gun-violence research after 20-year freeze

[Tamorlane]

Big loss for the NRA and perhaps indicative of the changing times and demographics.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03882-w

US lawmakers have reached an agreement that would fund gun-violence research for the first time in more than 20 years.

A spending bill introduced on 16 December includes US$25 million for studies on the issue, split evenly between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The House of Representatives and Senate are expected to approve the legislation this week, clearing the way for President Donald Trump to sign the bill into law.

“It’s a good start,” says Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, who has been studying gun violence for decades. “Violence-prevention policy should be guided by solid scientific evidence.”

“Is it adequate? Absolutely not. But is it meaningful and is it important? Absolutely yes,” says Mark Rosenberg, president emeritus of the non-profit Task Force for Global Health in Atlanta, Georgia, and the founding director of the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), also in Atlanta.

The CDC says that 39,773 people died of gun-related injuries in 2017, the last year for which it has released a full analysis.

The federal government stopped funding gun-violence research after Congress passed a rule called the “Dickey Amendment” in 1996. It barred the CDC from using funds “to advocate or promote gun control”. That was widely interpreted as prohibiting the funding of research into gun violence.

Jay Dickey, the Republican congressman from Arkansas who wrote the amendment, reversed his position on gun-violence research in the years before his death. “Both of us now believe strongly that federal funding for research into gun-violence prevention should be dramatically increased,” Dickey wrote in The Washington Post in 2015, along with former NCIPC chief Rosenberg.

[AltarOfPlagues]

lol "dickey amendment"

[chaunce54]

So what do guns have to do with disease or health? Why should these institutions be "studying" this?

[Maestro]

So what do guns have to do with disease or health? Why should these institutions be "studying" this?

Probably mental diseases (in relation to suicides and mass shootings)

But the CDC has studies on car related deaths too. No idea why you guys treat guns like some untouchable sacred cow.

[chaunce54]

Probably mental diseases

But the CDC has studies on car related deaths too. No idea why you guys treat guns like some untouchable sacred cow.

Guns or cars have nothing to do with mental diseases. Are they "studying" car related deaths, or just keeping statistics like they already do for guns?

[Dan_S]

Why do you think this is bad news for the NRA?

We generally know that gun violence isn't nearly as bad as the anti-gun groups say. The bulk of "gun violence" is suicides, and the remainder is almost all gang violence. Those people typically aren't the NRA's demographic.

[Dave22reborn]

Probably mental diseases (in relation to suicides and mass shootings)

But the CDC has studies on car related deaths too. No idea why you guys treat guns like some untouchable sacred cow.

A disease is something you can catch.

Also, what's this **** going to do anyway?

[Tamorlane]

...

On Jan. 16, President Barack Obama released his national plan for addressing gun violence. Highlighted on the first page the executive summary (PDF, 332KB) is the initiative to “end the freeze on gun violence research.” In a fact sheet (PDF, 350KB) supplementing the plan, the White House provided the following background and strategy details:

-There are approximately 30,000 firearm-related homicides and suicides a year, a number large enough to make clear this is a public health crisis. But for years, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other scientific agencies have been barred by Congress from using funds to “advocate or promote gun control,” and some members of Congress have claimed this prohibition also bans the CDC from conducting any research on the causes of gun violence. However, research on gun violence is not advocacy; it is critical public health research that gives all Americans information they need.

-Conduct research on the causes and prevention of gun violence, including links between video games, media images and violence: The president is issuing a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Disease Control and scientific agencies to conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence. It is based on legal analysis that concludes such research is not prohibited by any appropriations language. The CDC will start immediately by assessing existing strategies for preventing gun violence and identifying the most pressing research questions, with the greatest potential public health impact. And the Administration is calling on Congress to provide $10 million for the CDC to conduct further research, including investigating the relationship between video games, media images and violence.

-Better understand how and when firearms are used in violent death: To research gun violence prevention, we also need better data. When firearms are used in homicides or suicides, the National Violent Death Reporting System collects anonymous data, including the type of firearm used, whether the firearm was stored loaded or locked, and details on youth gun access. Congress should invest an additional $20 million to expand this system from the 18 states currently participating to all 50 states, helping Americans better understand how and when firearms are used in a violent death and informing future research and prevention strategies.

[Dave22reborn]

Why do you think this is bad news for the NRA?

We generally know that gun violence isn't nearly as bad as the anti-gun groups say. The bulk of "gun violence" is suicides, and the remainder is almost all gang violence. Those people typically aren't the NRA's demographic.

They could care less about gang violence, but they'll use their deaths towards their stats to push for gun control.

[x-trainer ben]

So it took death for this guy to believe in research.

"Jay Dickey, the Republican congressman from Arkansas who wrote the amendment, reversed his position on gun-violence research in the years before his death. "

[rhadam]

This is good news.

[Tamorlane]

So it took death for this guy to believe in research.

"Jay Dickey, the Republican congressman from Arkansas who wrote the amendment, reversed his position on gun-violence research in the years before his death. "

Same thing with the creator of the AK47. Was blamed for millions of deaths his rifle caused and never accepted any responsibility and even laughed it off. Then on his death bed, as a devote Christian, expressed great remorse and felt burdened by the deaths. How fear of god’s wrath changes people’s tunes.

[MrQuint]

The article references the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC) and "The CDC says that 39,773 people died of gun-related injuries in 2017, the last year for which it has released a full analysis."

From their website: In the United States, injury is the leading cause of death for children and adults between the ages of 1 and 45. Injuries and violence affect everyone—regardless of age, race, or economic status. We work to understand exactly how injury and violence impact all of us and what we can do to prevent it.


Seems like they would be gathering the statistics to determine what causes gun related injuries and how to prevent them. Not sure how this is bad for the NRA though.

[AltarOfPlagues]

Same thing with the creator of the AK47. Was blamed for millions of deaths his rifle caused and never accepted any responsibility and even laughed it off. Then on his death bed, as a devote Christian, expressed great remorse and felt burdened by the deaths. How fear of god’s wrath changes people’s tunes.

could be dementia too

[Tamorlane]

Why do you think this is bad news for the NRA?

How The NRA Worked To Stifle Gun Violence Research
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/05/59977...lence-research

[Dan_S]

They could care less about gang violence, but they'll use their deaths towards their stats to push for gun control.

Obviously. Twice in just this thread Tamorlane has posted a quote with 30,000 "gun violence deaths by suicide or homicide."

But we already know that at least 70% of them are suicides, from FBI stats.

9,000 deaths by guns in a country of 325,000,000 doesn't sound nearly as impactful though. And while we shouldn't discount gang related shootings, once you knock them out it's an incredibly small number. So small that no one should even be concerned about gun violence. May as well start passing policy about lightning strike deaths.

[AltarOfPlagues]

Obviously. Twice in just this thread Tamorlane has posted a quote with 30,000 "gun violence deaths by suicide or homicide."

But we already know that at least 70% of them are suicides, from FBI stats.

9,000 deaths by guns in a country of 325,000,000 doesn't sound nearly as impactful though. And while we shouldn't discount gang related shootings, once you knock them out it's an incredibly small number. So small that no one should even be concerned about gun violence. May as well start passing policy about lightning strike deaths.

are you saying lighting should be legal?

[x-trainer ben]

Same thing with the creator of the AK47. Was blamed for millions of deaths his rifle caused and never accepted any responsibility and even laughed it off. Then on his death bed, as a devote Christian, expressed great remorse and felt burdened by the deaths. How fear of god’s wrath changes people’s tunes.

Yeah when faced with Heaven or Hell....

[dhawkeye1980]

There was no hiatus, they simply couldnt use it for fake anti gun propoganda. Remember when obamas CDC did a gun research study and found a whole bunch of pro gun information and obama buried it?

Pepperidge farms remembers

[TrueTruth]

BREAKING NEWS: Research has been completed under budget and ahead of schedule.

Result:
- US cities with the highest murder rate have the strictest gun control laws
- US cities with the lowest murder rate have the most lenient gun control laws

The gun nut capital of America has got to be Plano, Texas, where every household has a virtual arsenal of firearms of every type. It's the buckle on the gun belt, the 2nd amendment haven, the shining city of a hill of spent cartridges in a gun nut state. Something like 2 guns for every man, woman, and child. It also has the lowest murder rate for a city over 250,000 population in the country at 0.4 per 100,000 per year.

Compare that with highly gun controlled Detroit with a murder rate of 50 per 100,000 per year and several other democratic party controlled cities with high murder rates.

Good thing we got that important topic out of the way. Now we can focus on a more pressing issues, like building the wall and keeping the foreign murderers and rapists out of our country. Also, make Canada moochers pay 2% of the required NATO Defense Budget and sign USMCA to put America First on trade (thank you Mr. President Trump)

[Maestro]

A disease is something you can catch.

Also, what's this **** going to do anyway?

the definition of a disease is much broader than that. Alzheimer's is listed as a disease.

It could lay down a solid referenceable framework about gun violence. The CDC isn't politically biased, they post the data as it is presented. I don't see how thats a bad thing.

[Tamorlane]

It could lay down a solid referenceable framework about gun violence. The CDC isn't politically biased, they post the data as it is presented. I don't see how thats a bad thing.

They’ll present evidence to law makers who will be more inclined to pass legislation for the sake of public safety.

This is good news for gun control advocates, bad news for 2nd amendment advocates.

[Tamorlane]

And while we shouldn't discount gang related shootings, once you knock them out it's an incredibly small number. So small that no one should even be concerned about gun violence. May as well start passing policy about lightning strike deaths.

...

Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed countries, a new study finds.

Compared to 22 other high-income nations, the United States' gun-related murder rate is 25 times higher. And, even though the United States' suicide rate is similar to other countries, the nation's gun-related suicide rate is eight times higher than other high-income countries, researchers said.

The researchers also found that compared to people in the other high-income nations, Americans are seven times more likely to die from violence and six times more likely to be accidentally killed with a gun.

You also have regular mass shootings which are unique to America and create terror in the communities they effect.

[Dan_S]

are you saying lighting should be legal?

I'm saying people in the US spend entirely too much time talking about policy on guns. It's not some massive issue that we need to focus on.

[Tamorlane]

I'm saying people in the US spend entirely too much time talking about policy on guns. It's not some massive issue that we need to focus on.

“Nothing could have prevented this.”

Says only country who regularly has mass shootings.

[dhawkeye1980]

...



You also have regular mass shootings which are unique to America and create terror in the communities they effect.

You simply refuse to acknowledge facts. We dont have that many mass shootings and they are not unique to the US, numerous other countries are ahead of us. That study is again wrong as it counts suicides by guns. Majority of our "mass shootings" are gang related. Those other countries if you look at the stats their homicide rates did not change, the tool simply changed. What they also dont have are the 10s-100s of thousand times guns are used in self defense like the US has.

Keep believing laws keep you safe tho trannylane

[x-trainer ben]

i guess we will find out, information is not scary.^^

[AltarOfPlagues]

They’ll present evidence to law makers who will be more inclined to pass legislation for the sake of public safety.

This is good news for gun control advocates, bad news for 2nd amendment advocates.

if you're saying lawmakers are so retarded that they could be presented with evidence that gun deaths could be mitigated by extreme govt overreach at direct odds with explicit constitutional rights, while simultaneously ignoring the orders of magnitude more deaths caused by little debbie snack cakes, then i agree with you

[Dan_S]

...



You also have regular mass shootings which are unique to America and create terror in the communities they effect.

edit: Moved this to it's own post because of all the responses

Above post is a great example. "The researchers also found that compared to people in the other high-income nations, Americans are seven times more likely to die from violence and six times more likely to be accidentally killed with a gun."

Seven times more likely to die from violence! "Lies, damn lies, and statistics." .002% is 7 times as big as .0003%. They're both so insignificant and unlikely to happen as to be irrelevant.

[otisthebat]

the government that wants to take our guns away should not be conducting gun violence studies.