The Paralytic Disease of Gun Control
The Dickey Amendment and its stranglehold on the study of guns in the United States.
The Dickey Amendment and its stranglehold on the study of guns in the United States.
While I applaud and completely agree with, Beto O’Rourke’s recent comment, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against a fellow American anymore.”
I agree with him tenfold. His anger, while salient, does little to quell the fears of the NRA and gun owners about the government coming to take their guns. It also does nothing to move lawmakers and the country to have a discussion as rudimentary as “maybe it’s time to talk about gun control.”
You’d think that two mass murders within 36 hours (El Paso and Dayton) would be enough for Americans to consider a discussion.
You would be wrong. Well, sorta.
In February of 2019, the House of Representatives passed the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. This bill would close the loophole that only made licensed gun dealers conduct a background check. The bill mandates that background checks be performed on all gun sales — including private sales, like those at gun shows.
The Senate, led by Republican Mitch McConnell has steadfastly “refused to take up the bill.” But the sad truth is, even IF the Senate voted on this particular bill AND it somehow passed, President Trump has said, unequivocally, he would veto it.
However, to believe some of the pundits, guns aren’t the problem. It’s a mental illness issue. That is pathetically and woefully incorrect.
According to Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, CEO of the American Psychological Association, “The United States is a global outlier when it comes to horrific headlines like the ones that consumed us all weekend. Although the United States makes up less than 5 percent of the world’s population, we are home to 31 percent of all mass shooters globally. This difference is not explained by the rate of mental illness in the U.S.”
If you want to blame it on something esoteric, a more likely contributor to gun violence is social contagion “the spread of attitudes, behaviors, or ideas via conformity and imitation.” A much more formidable contributor than mental illness.
But at the core, guns are the problem — hard stop. “A 2015 study estimated that only 4 percent of American gun deaths could be attributed to mental health issues.”
Now, even if you are a supporter of the Second Amendment, and I am, is it wrong to examine the impact of guns? Is it wrong to want to have a discussion about gun control among lawmakers? Well, it’s not wrong, but thanks to the lobbying dollars of the National Rifle Association (5.08 million in 2018 and 1.7 to date in 2019) and the current political climate in Washington, it’s unlikely to happen — regardless of the lives sacrificed.
But it’s not just the NRA and the political stalemate in D.C. that preclude any discussion. There is also the Dickey Amendment.
What is the Dickey Amendment? A fair question. It’s “…a provision first inserted as a rider into the 1996 federal government omnibus spending bill which mandated 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.’”
HUH? What does THAT mean?
In short, the CDC is the governmental agency that would study the effects of gun violence as an illness. Because of this Dickey Amendment, the agency's hands are tied. You see, make no mistake, any study of gun violence would surely result in the promotion of gun control.
A clinical study on gun violence would invariably lead to gun control — the two are inextricably linked.
While the government is not the only funding source of gun research, it can be (and has been) done both privately and in academic environments. But, as the shootings continue to show, private studies have no impact.
And yes, it is true that any governmental research could potentially have little to no effect on policy, isn’t it at least worth examining? If we consider the dollars allocated to studies, we dedicate 240 million a year on traffic safety research, 233 million a year on food safety and 331 million a year on the effects of tobacco. 331 million a year? On the effects of tobacco?
Does anyone today NOT understand the pitfalls of tobacco use?!
However, almost nothing is spent to study funs and firearms that kill 33,000 Americans annually.
If you’re like me, you would’ve thought that the senseless slaughter of 20 children in the Sandy Hook massacre would be enough to open a discussion about guns. The 50 who died in the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, the 22 in El Paso, the 59 in Las Vegas, the 26 in Southerland Springs, the 17 at Stoneman Douglas High School, et al.
Maybe you’d think any of the other mass murders that occur once every 64 days, would be enough to warrant a discussion about gun control.
But here again, if you think any of that would prompt a simple discussion, you’d be wrong.
I get it, we have to stomach the next 18 months (hopefully) and struggle through this current administration. But how much longer can we stick our head in the sand about gun violence?
America is a world leader — but do we need to lead one of the world leaders in gun violence (currently 4.43 per 100,000).
Americans own more guns per capita than residents of any other country. In the USA, 89 residents out of 100 own guns. Second place? Yemen where 55 residents out of 100 own guns…YEMEN!
The US makes up less than 5% of the world’s population but holds 31% of global mass shooters.
Americans own nearly half (48%) of the estimated 650 million civilian-owned guns worldwide.
The US has one of the highest rates of death by firearm in the developed world, according to World Health Organization data.
I’m sickened that this is where we’ve landed as a society. You should be too.
In addition to El Paso and Dayton, did you know there was a third mass murder in August where eight people were murdered and 25 were injured?
The government has been consistently driven into a deep paralysis when the idea of the talk about even a simple discussion on gun control is whispered. Despite Beto O’Routkes claim during the debate about removing war weapons from the streets, a conversation about gun control does not mean the abolishment of the second amendment!
That’s pathetic and shameful NRA rhetoric that its members, gun owners, and lawmakers buy into. You shouldn’t. It’s not un-American to want gun control.
It’s time to move away from this ouroboros.
It’s time to call bullshit.