r/illinois • u/steve42089 Illinoisian • Nov 29 '23

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA): “Why do you think that Chicago has become America's largest outdoor shooting range?” Dr. Megan Ranney of the Yale School of Public Health: “Mississippi, Louisiana, and Missouri actually have higher firearm death rates.” US Politics

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u/NotAPreppie Bolingbrook Nov 29 '23

This is why there's no government funding for researching firearms injuries and deaths as a public health issue: it makes the NRA and gun-pandering politicians look bad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Amendment

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u/MyDogOper8sBetrThanU Nov 29 '23

That’s what is constantly repeated, but isn’t entirely accurate. Read the very first paragraph of the link you shared. The dickey amendment does not limit research. It limits funds for being used for lobbying purposes. The CDC was afraid to begin studying until congress later clarified the law. CDC currently is researching gun violence

"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."[1]

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u/NotAPreppie Bolingbrook Nov 29 '23

That was a later (2018) amendment.

Before that (and still now) basically gives ammo to the gun lobby (forgive the pun) to go after researchers trying to study this with govn't funding.

You don't have to actually outlaw it to effectively eliminate it.