More Gun Crankiness to the Post Star

    If there was an epidemic killing 90 Americans a day, 33,000 a year, do you think we would be wise to spend money researching it? Yes, is the answer I'm hoping for. If so, you're not a congressman protecting his precious standing with the NRA. Mass shootings are less than the tip of the iceberg at 2% to 3% of the firearm deaths in this country. We need to have someone to look at the 97% that don't run on TV for days on end.

     
   The Dickey Amendment in 1996 cut off funding to the CDC because Congress (the NRA) was afraid that research into firearm deaths would hurt gun and ammo sales. A study prior to the amendment found that having a gun in your house does not make you and your family safer. Why are gun producers allowed to control research on their deadly product? And push misinformation on the public? We don't allow cigarette manufacturers to control tobacco research and education.

     Even Jay Dickey now says, "Doing nothing is no longer an acceptable solution." Continuing to allow the National Rifle Association to control gun policy in the US is also not an acceptable solution. We can start fixing that next November in this district. Anyone who's stamped Grade A Prime venal by their organization is not going to help solve the problem.