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April 8th, 2016 
Awake Goy
Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Media Spokesperson, HEALTH MAX Brands
Doctors for America has written a letter to Congress asking for an end to the “dramatic chilling effect of the current rider language restricting gun violence research and to fund this critical work.”
More than 141 organizations in the medical field and over 1 million health professionals signed this letter to ask for funding for government agencies to research “gun violence… [as] a serious public health threat than must be handled with urgency”.
These medical professionals are requesting that “congress must lift the barrier to research that has persisted for nearly 20 years and fund the work that we need to save lives and prevent future tragedies.”
The coalition says that because of a rider on a 1996 bill which forbids the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) from using federal funding to “advocate or promote gun control” has been used to derail funding for research into gun-related violence which has effectively caused a de facto ban.
In 2015, Congressman Jay Dickey called on fellow lawmakers to undo a 19 year old ban that prevents the CDC from studying gun-related injuries and deaths. Dickey was responsible for the prohibition; but now he would like to see this reversed.
In the 2017 federal budget plan, on page 936, is the ban Dickey is hoping to overturn. The language in the document reads in part: “None of the funds made available in this title may be used, in whole or in part, to advocate or promote gun control.”
Dickey explained that this type of language would not be removed “because of politics”, combined with the fact that this amendment’s impact has been the most palatable.
Back in 1996, Dickey crafted language that stripped $2.6 million from the CDC that was spent on studying guns the prior year and appropriated the monies for other purposes.
This move was inspired by a 1993 article discussing the correlation between gun ownership and the increased risk of homicide.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) spoke out against the findings, saying that the CDC-funded study was an advocacy for gun control.
Because of the NRA’s objection, data on key points regarding gun violence have gone under-researched. For example:
• Psychological consequences of gun violence among injured and/or family members
• Identifying corollary victims of gun violence and subsequent consequences
• Influences of substance abuse on firearm homicide and suicide
• Cost of gun-related violence; including physical, mental and communal
• How effective current gun policies are
Since 1996, gun-related issues and subsequent legislation have been based on speculation and conjecture resulting in ill-informed arguments that have benefitted the NRA instead of serving the needs of the people.
Then in 2011, Republican lawmakers expanded Dickey’s amendment to include research conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). When asked about this move, then-Speaker of the House John Boehner asserted that “a gun is not a disease.”
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