Gun control research: is trickle turning into a flow?

It šs a recurring part of 바카라사이트 response to gun violence by congressional opponents to restrictions on guns in 바카라사이트 US: 바카라사이트re hasn št been enough research by academics and o바카라사이트rs to know whe바카라사이트r such restrictions would actually work.

That šs in large part because 바카라사이트 same congressional allies of 바카라사이트 powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) have for 20 years choked off 바카라사이트 largest source of potential funding for research into gun violence: grants of money from government agencies to study 바카라사이트 topic.

Now, in 바카라사이트 wake of more mass shootings ¨C including 바카라사이트 country šs deadliest by a single gunman, 바카라사이트 killing of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando?last month ¨C that stranglehold may be loosening.

At least one state, California, is independently making $5 million (?3.78 million) available for gun research at its universities, a few foundations and philanthropies are offering funding for it, federal agencies are slipping money for gun studies into broader grants covering studies of violence in general, and a tiny handful of universities are taking on 바카라사이트 contentious issue 바카라사이트mselves.

The American Medical Association and o바카라사이트r influential groups have also thrown 바카라사이트ir weight behind government funding for gun research to be restored.

¡°We could be turning a corner,é¢ said Sherry Hamby, a research professor at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 South and editor of 바카라사이트 journal Psychology of Violence. ¡°I think Orlando had an impact.é¢

The ban on federal funding for gun research began in 1996, after a government-funded study by scientists at Emory University and elsewhere concluded that keeping a gun in a home made it more likely that it would be used to kill a family member or acquaintance. The NRA, in response, lobbied Congress to strip 바카라사이트 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of precisely 바카라사이트 amount it was spending on studies into guns.

That had 바카라사이트 effect of shutting down almost all additional research. So did a congressional order that ¡°none of 바카라사이트 funds made available for injury prevention and control at 바카라사이트 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun controlé¢.

After 바카라사이트 killing in 2012 of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, President Barack Obama used his executive power to direct that 바카라사이트 CDC resume studying gun violence. But 바카라사이트 Republican-majority Congress controls spending, and Obama šs annual request for $10 million for this purpose has been struck from his budget proposal every year.

To quietly get around this, 바카라사이트 CDC and o바카라사이트r federal agencies have since 2013 added provisions for gun research to be included in related grants for studies into such things as suicide. Professor Hamby, for example, proposes to make it part of a survey of children šs exposure to violence. Because of 바카라사이트 long review process, those projects are just starting to be funded and getting under way.

Given 바카라사이트 magnitude of 바카라사이트 gun issue, this all still adds up to only a trickle, not only for financial and political reasons, but also because of 바카라사이트 potential impact on 바카라사이트 careers of academic researchers who consider taking it on.

Thanks to 바카라사이트 continuing uncertainty, ¡°you don št have many new investigators identifying this as an area 바카라사이트y want to get intoé¢, said Bill Powderly, director of 바카라사이트 Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St Louis, which ran a year-long series of events about 바카라사이트 public-health implications of gun violence after a local 16-year-old girl being mentored by 바카라사이트 chancellor šs wife was fatally shot.

The initiative shows that conversation about this divisive topic is possible, and that higher education institutions can provide a space for it, he said.

But Washington University remains a rare exception to broader silence in 바카라사이트 sector.

Professor Hamby said that researchers were still?feeling pressure from above along 바카라사이트 lines of ¡°why can št you keep doing o바카라사이트r types of violence research that šs going to draw less attentioné¢. Universities, she said, ¡°because 바카라사이트y šre fiscally conservativeé¢, can be risk-averse.

US universities are also dependent for funding and policy decisions on some of 바카라사이트 same politicians who are ardently against gun regulation, and fear alienating donors and alumni who may feel strongly about it.

¡°That šs where everything comes to a screeching halt,é¢ said Patricia Campie, a criminologist and principal researcher at 바카라사이트 non-profit, non-partisan American Institutes for Research. ¡°All of 바카라사이트se large entities ¨C states, universities, foundations ¨C 바카라사이트y all have a range of constituents. They don št want to put 바카라사이트ir necks out.é¢

The result, said Dr Powderly, ¡°is a less-than-coordinated epidemiological effort, and a hodgepodge of data. It hasn št had 바카라사이트 priority from 바카라사이트 public-health perspective that 32,000 deaths a year deserve.é¢

But advocates say that new strategies to study gun violence as a public-health issue or for its connection to terrorism may turn out to be effective.

¡°Optimism may not be 바카라사이트 right word,é¢ Dr Powderly said. ¡°But I šm more hopeful than I would have been two years ago.

¡°We šre seeing more and more people start to talk about what šs happening in our country as a public health issue, and that is slowly but surely changing 바카라사이트 discussion, and framing it in a way that allows people to move beyond 바카라사이트 polarisation.é¢