What Will Renewed Gun Research Find?
Posted at 10:15 a.m. on Jan. 18
President Obama signed an executive order directing the Centers on Disease Control to student gun violence, ending a six year moratorium on such research. Brad Plumer looks at the potential impact.
“Since federal funding was the primary source of support for gun-violence research, the entire field withered as a result. Gun studies as a percentage of peer-reviewed research dropped 60 percent since 1996… The list of simple things that existing gun-violence research can’t answer is quite striking.”
“Still, some experts are skeptical that the order will massive a huge impact… The U.S. Justice Department, for instance, has stopped funding studies on firearms trafficking patterns… Data is also sparse. The CDC’s National Violent Death Reporting System has never been fully funded by Congress. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives is barred from keeping electronic records.”
