Reply #74: Ironic since the gun lobby has fought extremely hard to coverup gun crime

[billbuckhead]

Few study solutions for guns

Lack of money, political pressure and threats block hard look at violence with firearms

By Sarah A. Webster / The Detroit News

DETROIT
The 90,000-member American Academy of Family Physicians had emotional debates last year on what stance to take on firearms, largely because there is a dearth of fair research to provide guidance.
“The evidence has been pretty thin,” said Dr. Richard Roberts, the organization’s president-elect.

Similar debates erupted within the 62,000-member College of Surgeons. “The committee on trauma has been pointing (the lack of research) out for years and years,” said Dr. Gerald O. Strauch, director of that group’s trauma department.

Gun research focuses on a variety of points, such as what product modifications might reduce injuries. It also could provide a circumstantial breakdown of shootings, explaining how many were domestic in nature or gang-related, and what might be done to prevent these incidents.

But there has been little money for gun investigations since 1996, when the National Rifle Association convinced Congress to kill the $2.6 million firearm research budget of the Centers for Disease Control.

Scientists also report an environment stifled by fear of gun advocates.
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<http://www.detnews.com/specialreports/2000/violence/tuestudy/tuestudy.htm>