Mass shooting in Las Vegas is latest incident to raise question of why federal
agencies avoid studies that might illuminate policy.
October 3, 2017
S
In 2013, dozens of scholars organized by the Crime Lab of the University of Chicago
released a letter calling for Congress to lift restrictions that have led the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies to avoid funding research on gun
violence.
The letter noted that in a 40-year period, the United States had experienced 400 cases of
cholera and that the National Institutes of Health had funded 212 grants on cholera. The 1,337 case of diphtheria had led to 56 NIH grants. But more than 4 million firearms injuries? The NIH
funded only three grants on that topic.
This week's horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas is prompting scholars -- particularly in
social science groups -- to once again to call for shifts in federal policy to resume support
for research on gun violence.
Felice Levine, executive director of the American Educational Research Association,
released a statementMonday that said that "In this period of human devastation and
public pain, it is incumbent upon us to confront our collective responsibilities as researchers, educators,
and policy makers to engage in a dialogue about the pervasive and lethal effects of guns
in the hands of those seeking to render violence."
Levine added: "Once again, AERA calls on Congress to lift restrictions that prevent the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting gun violence research.
These restrictions obstruct the development and implementation of evidence-based
policies and programs that foster gun safety."
The American Anthropological Association issued a similar statement. "In the face of the
unabated torrent of shootings in the U.S., we call on our colleagues to examine the ways
in which our research can contribute to eliminating the health and safety menace posed
by firearms," the statement said. "We also call on the U.S. Congress to lift restrictions
that prevent the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting gun
violence research and maintaining comprehensive gun violence data. These restrictions
obstruct the development and implementation of evidence-based policies and programs that foster gun safety."
Social science groups have been issuing such statements for years. Here is one from 2013 from the American Sociological Association.
The limits to which the statements refer were part of an appropriations bill enacted in 1996, provisions of which remain law. The key provision bars the CDC from using funds to support research
that “may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”
As reported by The New York Times, the CDC-backed studies that prompted the measure
found that having guns in home increased the chances of violence in a home rather than
providing protection. While scientists who conducted the research insisted that they were
analyzing data, the National Rifle Association attacked the research as advocacy for gun
control. Republicans in Congress agreed.
In the years since 1996, Democrats in Congress have tried several times to have the
lmits lifted, but have been blocked by Republicans from doing so.
In 2013, President Obama urged the CDC and the NIH to conduct more research on
gun violence and asked Congress for funds to do so. But with Congressional Republicans
making clear that they would interpret most such studies as violating the 1996 measure,
month that it had opted to let the program end.
Calls to change policy have typically followed mass shootings. President Obama's
request followed the killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. An unsuccessful
Democratic Congressional push on the issue followed the 2016 mass killing at an Orlando nightclub.
The lack of federal support for this research prompted the State of California to start a
research center at the University of California, Davis, on the topic. The center opened in
June.
Inside higher Education
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