# "An End To the Ban on Gun-Violence Studies"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 13, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032 "2013-01-13T04:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/1 "2013-01-13T04:20:48Z")
Okay, yeah, I’m listening to ultra-left-wing National Public Media, but… In a story about the Biden Gun-Control panel, one of the items they said that Biden would likely recommend was an “End to the ban on gun-violence studies.” Huh? There’s a ban? On studies? I want to know more…because my instincts are kicking like crazy, and my knees are a-jerking… Facts, please? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/2 "2013-01-13T04:23:09Z")
Makes sense. The gun lobby wouldn’t want any studies done on anything involving guns since the results likely wouldn’t support their positions. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/3 "2013-01-13T04:29:53Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Makes sense. The gun lobby wouldn’t want any studies done on anything involving guns since the results likely wouldn’t support their positions. He isn’t asking for _opinions_ on whether or not there should be one-he’s asking for _facts_ as to whether or not there _is_ one. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/4 "2013-01-13T04:34:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He isn’t asking for _opinions_ on whether or not there should be one-he’s asking for _facts_ as to whether or not there _is_ one. He seemed surprised that there _was_ a ban on them; I was giving a reason why there would be such a ban. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/5 "2013-01-13T04:41:37Z")
[Possibly relevant article.](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/12/gun_violence_research_nra_and_congress_blocked_gun_control_studies_at_cdc.single.html) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/6 "2013-01-13T04:44:29Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > [Possibly relevant article.](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2012/12/gun_violence_research_nra_and_congress_blocked_gun_control_studies_at_cdc.single.html) So it’s not exactly a censorship-ban on anyone studying the subject, but it is a ban on government-funded studies by the Centers for Disease Control. Which is almost as bad. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/7 "2013-01-13T04:45:24Z")
Read a number of references to this story, but they all seem to reflect back on the _Slate_ story. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/8 "2013-01-13T04:49:06Z")
> [@](#): > > …Scientists in the field and former officials with the government agency that used to finance the great bulk of this research say the influence of the National Rife Association has all but choked off money for such work. > > “We’ve been stopped from answering the basic questions,” said Mark Rosenberg, former director of the National Center for Injury Control and Prevention, part of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which was for about a decade the leading source of financing for firearms research. > > Chris Cox, the N.R.A.’s chief lobbyist, said his group had not tried to squelch genuine scientific inquiries, just politically slanted ones. > > “Our concern is not with legitimate medical science,” Mr. Cox said. “Our concern is they were promoting the idea that gun ownership was a disease that needed to be eradicated.”… More here: [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=all&\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/us/26guns.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0) Further: pages of similar articles, no denial so far… ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/9 "2013-01-16T00:19:37Z")
No one is going to arrest you if you decided to conduct a study on gun violence. In that sense, there’s no “ban” on gun-violence studies, despite the Brady Campaign / Joe Biden talking points. They’re probably referring to the fact that Congress regularly attaches restrictions to their appropriations for federal agencies like the CDC which prevent them from using any of their appropriated budget to study gun violence. It’s more like Congress saying, “this is a waste of time and money, don’t do it on the taxpayer dime” than some Orwellian Newspeak. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/10 "2013-01-16T00:28:43Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > No one is going to arrest you if you decided to conduct a study on gun violence. In that sense, there’s no “ban” on gun-violence studies, despite the Brady Campaign / Joe Biden talking points. > > They’re probably referring to the fact that Congress regularly attaches restrictions to their appropriations for federal agencies like the CDC which prevent them from using any of their appropriated budget to study gun violence. > > It’s more like Congress saying, “this is a waste of time and money, don’t do it on the taxpayer dime” than some Orwellian Newspeak. Except for the fact that that pretty much means that honest research on the matter won’t get done. It leaves the field to the well funded gun lobby. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/11 "2013-01-16T00:33:58Z")
> [@Chris Cox](#): > > “Our concern is they were promoting the idea that gun ownership was a disease that needed to be eradicated.”… Gun- **violence,** not gun-ownership. And [the Centers for Disease Control](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centers_for_Disease_Control_and_Prevention) actually does have a much broader remit/brief/scope than the name would seem to imply. > [@](#): > > The **Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)** is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta.[1][2][3] It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. The CDC focus national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases and foodborne pathogens and other microbial infections), **environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, injury prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.** The CDC is the United States’ national public health institute and is a founding member of the International Association of National Public Health Institutes. Studying gun-violence falls well within that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/12 "2013-01-16T00:35:15Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > No one is going to arrest you if you decided to conduct a study on gun violence. In that sense, there’s no “ban” on gun-violence studies, despite the Brady Campaign / Joe Biden talking points. > > They’re probably referring to the fact that Congress regularly attaches restrictions to their appropriations for federal agencies like the CDC which prevent them from using any of their appropriated budget to study gun violence. > > It’s more like Congress saying, “this is a waste of time and money, don’t do it on the taxpayer dime” than some Orwellian Newspeak. So stated, it is no less silly than Newspeak. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/13 "2013-01-16T00:52:46Z")
_Aw goldurn contrary!_ Congress is preventing the useless waste of money to find out information that we already have. When you know that 25 million crimes every year are prevented by vigilant gun owners… Or is every month? Whatever…anyway, once you know that what further information is necessary? None, that’s what! Everyone already knows that universal gun ownership is the best darn thing that could happen to a country! Its as obvious a truth as the clear fact that global warning is bogus. You want more research that global warming is bogus? Then, the private sector is the best possible source for such research, as they are free from any partisan bias, being concerned only with their financial well-being. Can’t get much more impartial than that, amirite? Since the facts are already established, further research could only serve to cloud the issue and unfdermine our solidly based opinions. And one set of opinions is firmly supported by existing research, there is no need to further substantiate the proven facts! What possible good could research do when we already know the facts? ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/14 "2013-01-16T01:28:17Z")
Government not funding research, while suspect, is a far cry from a ban on research. Calling it a ban does a disservice to everybody, and is an extreme flexing of what might constitute truth. Or do the calls for bans on assault rifles really mean that you just won’t be able to buy one subsidized by the government? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/15 "2013-01-16T01:59:09Z")
If I want to know the stats on whooping cough vaccination and its effect on public health, gonna ask somebody over at the CDC, most likely. What they do, you know, bean count and number crunch on public health issues. I very much want reliable stats on gun violence, etc. If only because I’m getting tired of being served the same chopped cow paddy salad as facts. Actually, no, not “getting tired”, been tired of it for quite a long time now. If I have any bias at all, its a preference for people who want information as compared to those who would prefer not to be bothered by it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/16 "2013-01-16T02:11:45Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > . . . What possible good could research do when we already know the facts? I love you and want to tote your hunting rifle. I’m also good at dressing and cleaning fresh game, and I know all the local watering holes. (I once helped a pilot pull out of a steep dive. They wanted a $12.00 cover…) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/17 "2013-01-16T02:28:26Z")
Any experience boning a chicken? ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/18 "2013-01-16T02:36:57Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I very much want reliable stats on gun violence, etc. The FBI and ATF can already provide some of what you want. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/19 "2013-01-16T02:37:57Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Except for the fact that that pretty much means that honest research on the matter won’t get done. It leaves the field to the well funded gun lobby. So fund your own study if you’re so eager for one. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032/20 "2013-01-16T02:49:27Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > So fund your own study if you’re so eager for one. Yeah. You can borrow the money from your parents. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-end-to-the-ban-on-gun-violence-studies/647032.md?page=2)