Is gun violence actually a public health issue?
Gun violence is killing 30,000 Americans a year. Why not treat it like smoking? Or heart disease? For over two decades, there has been a virtual freeze on gun violence research in the United States. In 1996, Congress passed a bill preventing the use of federal funds for studies that advocate gun control, which was widely interpreted as preventing all research into firearm violence. Though U.S. President Barack Obama reversed the order in 2013, Congress continues to block dedicated funding. And this data deficit is posing a significant complication for those hoping to find a solution for America’s gun-death epidemic. Dr. Michael Siegel, a professor of Community Health Sciences at Boston University, stresses that gun violence is a public health problem . But before preventative measures can be taken, he says, Americans need research. On Friday, Maclean’s talked to Siegel about how the lack of federal funding is harming firearms research in the United States, and what that means