Professors Call for Gun Violence Research

, Malcolm A. Kline, Leave a comment

At taxpayer expense, of course. Apparently it never occurs to them to pursue a public good on their own dime.

More than a dozen academic and educational groups signed onto a letter urging Congress to lift what they see as restrictions on gun violence research. “Research into the causes and prevention of violence is not a partisan issue,” the letter reads. “Yet for more than two decades, Congress has failed to provide dedicated funding for gun violence research, in part because of the Dickey Amendment, a law that states that ‘None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control.’”

“Although the Dickey Amendment does not explicitly prevent research on gun violence, it is widely acknowledged that absent clearer guidance from Congress it has had a devastating effect on violence prevention research at the CDC. As advocates for science, we demand policies based on scientific evidence, and we ask that Congress immediately repeal the Dickey Amendment and provide dedicated funding for research into the causes and prevention of gun violence.”

The signatories of the letter include:

American Academy of Nursing
American Anthropological Association
American Association of Geographers
American Association of University Professors
American Educational Research Association
American Psychological Association
American Sociological Association
American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO
Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education
Clergy Letter Project
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)
Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences
Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work
Hindu American Foundation
Macaulay Honors College, CUNY
March for Science: Columbus
March for Science: Mobile
National Association of Biology Teachers
National Council on Family Relations
National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives
National Science Teachers Association
Pantsuit Nation
Physician Women For Democratic Principles
Physician Moms Group
ScienceDebate
Society for Prevention Research
Unitarian Universalist Association
500 Women Scientists

But will they themselves acknowledge any research that does not support gun control, such as a recent study from Northeastern University?