Gun Policy Research

[Belsnickel]

(06-22-2017, 04:00 PM)Dill Wrote: Well said. Your "rant" brings us to the point where we can see a problem behind the problem--namely the stifling of research into gun violence.  So the issue really is that there is sufficient political will and power to prevent this research from going forward, from finding answers which could be the basis of sound policy.

As is the case with so many other social problems, there are groups who wish to keep the fog in place. If no one knows for sure, then there is no basis for policy change. Which groups? Who benefits from the fog? What interests find the status quo preferable to policies which could reduce thousands of deaths, accidental or otherwise?

One question--if you are sitting on "a stack of the data that is out there," then why can't you use it or make it available to those who can?

There is data and research that exists, but it isn't adequate. I should have said a stack of research, not data, my apologies. In rant mode my fingers can move faster than my brain. Anyway, there is minimal data that is collected by law enforcement, but it is all partial. Since there are not adequate reporting standards, it can be difficult to gain a solid data set. Then there is the research. The research is very limited because the data is limited. You can't dig below the surface to really get to the meat of the situation and any attempts to are based on assumptions using proxies that could be known variables if we had the data.

As for me using the research in front of me, I am. I'm crafting a policy memo as part of a class. The issue is that if I were to present it to our current government, it would be ignored. It would never even make it to Dearborn's desk. But I plan to keep up with this as I go through my academic career because I think it is an interesting issue, and maybe one day I will be able to present it to someone that will give a damn.