Before 1996, the CDC was systematically studying gun violence as a public health problem, according to this article from Business Insider.
When the CDC started reporting that the prevalence of guns led to an increase in gun violence, the Republicans cut off any funding that had to do with studying gun violence.
Kind of like the kid who thinks you can’t see him when he covers his eyes.
It may seem weird to study gun violence as a public health issue. Doesn’t it just happen when a bad guy shoots a gun?
The thing is, good practices and laws can reduce injuries and death,
That’s what happened with drunk driving.
For decades, Americans just shrugged at the deaths caused by drunk drivers. What were you going to do if the bad guy tanks up then gets behind the wheel of a car?
You can do quite a bit, it turns out. Cracking down on people with DWI’s and DUI’s was certainly part of it. But you can also look at things like raising the drinking age, sobriety checkpoints, making cars safer...in other words, you study the problem as a whole system of things going wrong.
We should be studying and talking about what goes wrong with gun violence. We should get scientists and law enforcement and—yes—gun owners into a national conversation about what can help minimize our gun injuries and deaths.
But, the NRA prefers the sound of silence.
“Hello darkness, my old friend.”
If you want to remember how the story goes, the Simon & Garfunkel song is on Freegal.
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| Children hold signs "Gun violence is a public safety issue" at rally in Denver of One Million Moms for Gun Control. |
When the CDC started reporting that the prevalence of guns led to an increase in gun violence, the Republicans cut off any funding that had to do with studying gun violence.
Kind of like the kid who thinks you can’t see him when he covers his eyes.
It may seem weird to study gun violence as a public health issue. Doesn’t it just happen when a bad guy shoots a gun?
The thing is, good practices and laws can reduce injuries and death,
That’s what happened with drunk driving.
For decades, Americans just shrugged at the deaths caused by drunk drivers. What were you going to do if the bad guy tanks up then gets behind the wheel of a car?
You can do quite a bit, it turns out. Cracking down on people with DWI’s and DUI’s was certainly part of it. But you can also look at things like raising the drinking age, sobriety checkpoints, making cars safer...in other words, you study the problem as a whole system of things going wrong.
We should be studying and talking about what goes wrong with gun violence. We should get scientists and law enforcement and—yes—gun owners into a national conversation about what can help minimize our gun injuries and deaths.
But, the NRA prefers the sound of silence.
“Hello darkness, my old friend.”
If you want to remember how the story goes, the Simon & Garfunkel song is on Freegal.
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