Congressman Who Restricted Gun Violence Research Has Regrets

[kpete]

The Congressman Who Restricted Gun Violence Research Has Regrets
Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) authored the controversial 1996 amendment that remains in place. He wishes Congress would change it.



...............

At first, the House tried to close down the CDC's entire, $46 million National Center for Injury Prevention. When that failed, Dickey stepped in with an alternative: strip $2.6 million that the agency had spent on gun studies that year. The money would eventually be re-appropriated for studies unrelated to guns. But the far more damaging inclusion was language that stated, “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”

Dickey proclaimed victory -- an end, he said at the time, to the CDC's attempts "to raise emotional sympathy" around gun violence. But the agency spent the subsequent years petrified of doing any research on gun violence, making the costs of the amendment cleareeven to Dickey himself.

He said the law was over-interpreted. Now, he looks at simple advances in highway safety -- safety barriers, for example -- and wonders what could have been done for guns.

"If we had somehow gotten the research going, we could have somehow found a solution to the gun violence without there being any restrictions on the Second Amendment," Dickey said. "We could have used that all these years to develop the equivalent of that little small fence."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jay-dickey-gun-violence-research-amendment_561333d7e4b022a4ce5f45bf?utm_hp_ref=politics

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. 'over-interpreted'.

It was interpreted the only way it could be. Had the CDC done ANY research on gun violence, your fellow wingnuts in Congress would have proclaimed they were violating the laws, and pushed to defund the rest again. You own it, the blood drips from your hands.

[gratuitous]

4. That's a hoot, ain't it?

Ranks up there with the guy on trial for murdering his parents who begs the court for leniency because he's an orphan. Sure, the CDC tread cautiously. Wouldn't you with this hanging over your head: "None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control." You want to guess ahead of time what some dumbass congressman or his dumberasser constituent might decide what will be construed as advocating or promoting gun control?

So, the bodies pile up, the NRA gets more donations from its dumbass constituency, the media are petrified to tell the plain truth, and everyone's surprised that nothing gets done.

[world wide wally]

2. Nice sentiment, but your legacy is carved in stone...

Mostly tombstones

[jaysunb]

3. The "misinterpretation of the 2nd amendment is

the basic problem. That's the easy part.

[frylock]

5. You can shit in one hand and wish in the other, pal..

you OWN this garbage legislation. This is part of YOUR legacy.

[surrealAmerican]

6. So, you have "regrets" ?

What are you going to do about the damage you caused? Are you personally going to make changes?