Post by phalange3 on Oct 12, 2016 23:50:23 GMT
Whereas, gun violence is a major cause of death in the US, responsible for 32,279 deaths in 2014 alone (1); and
Whereas, the public and political discussion on gun violence continues to be one of philosophical and ideological theorizing, devoid of substantiated, evidence-based claims; and
Whereas, current evidence overwhelmingly suggests that private gun ownership confers no statistically significant protection against homicide, but, rather, significantly increases the chance of injury and death in the home and community; and
Whereas, evidence on gun violence, particularly on how specific policies affect mortality, is still limited, largely due to the CDC’s lack of firearm research since 1996, when the NRA lobbied Congress to pressure the CDC against conducting further firearm-related research, which the CDC has still not resumed even despite President Obama’s Executive order on 1/16/2013 for the CDC to conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and the ways to prevent it (2); therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Academy encourage legislators to design gun policy in a scientifically literate manner, such that policies are based on the best available evidence concerning the correlation between private gun ownership and mortality, and, when available, the correlation between specific policies and mortality; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Academy discourage any discussion of gun violence that is not based in fact, including unsubstantiated claims about the theoretical safety or danger of private gun ownership drawn from logical deduction rather than from available data, and be it further
LEAD AUTHOR: Ryan Hassan
Whereas, the public and political discussion on gun violence continues to be one of philosophical and ideological theorizing, devoid of substantiated, evidence-based claims; and
Whereas, current evidence overwhelmingly suggests that private gun ownership confers no statistically significant protection against homicide, but, rather, significantly increases the chance of injury and death in the home and community; and
Whereas, evidence on gun violence, particularly on how specific policies affect mortality, is still limited, largely due to the CDC’s lack of firearm research since 1996, when the NRA lobbied Congress to pressure the CDC against conducting further firearm-related research, which the CDC has still not resumed even despite President Obama’s Executive order on 1/16/2013 for the CDC to conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and the ways to prevent it (2); therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Academy encourage legislators to design gun policy in a scientifically literate manner, such that policies are based on the best available evidence concerning the correlation between private gun ownership and mortality, and, when available, the correlation between specific policies and mortality; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Academy discourage any discussion of gun violence that is not based in fact, including unsubstantiated claims about the theoretical safety or danger of private gun ownership drawn from logical deduction rather than from available data, and be it further
LEAD AUTHOR: Ryan Hassan