NRA Explains Its Position On Dickey Amendment, Gun Violence Research

By Micah Rate

Every now and again the Dickey Amendment is brought up during the debate over gun control and gun reform. Gun control advocates oppose the amendment, saying it prevents the government from providing funds to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study causes of gun violence. On the other side, supporters of the Second Amendment see it as a necessary restriction to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding gun control measures. However, there’s just one problem with the claim that the funding of gun violence research is prohibited or stalled due to the amendment. The Dickey Amendment, implemented in 1996 with the help of Rep. Jay Dickey (R-AR), did no such thing. At the time, funds were diverted from gun violence research to other areas of study due to blatant bias from researchers (more on that later).

The argument for studying gun violence is that by conducting these studies, the data can be used to inform politicians and the general public and allow the nation to take the right steps to reform gun laws and save lives. Most Americans and the NRA itself agree with this approach. But the Dickey Amendment continues to come under fire even though it explicitly …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms