Republicans Say No to CDC Gun Violence Research

351 Twitter Facebook Email

Giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention money for gun violence research is a request to fund propaganda, a Georgia congressman says.

Giving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention money for gun violence research is a request to fund propaganda, a Georgia congressman says.

by Lois Beckett ProPublica, April 21, 2014, 2:50 p.m.

We're probing the policy and politics of guns in America.

Enable Social Reading

After the Sandy Hook school shooting, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) was one of a few congressional Republicans who expressed a willingness to reconsider the need for gun control laws.

"Put guns on the table, also put video games on the table, put mental health on the table," he said less than a week after the Newtown shootings. He told a local TV station that he wanted to see more research done to understand mass shootings. "Let's let the data lead rather than our political opinions."

For nearly 20 years, Congress has pushed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to steer clear of firearms violence research. As chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that traditionally sets CDC funding, Kingston has been in a position to change that. Soon after Sandy Hook, Kingston said he had spoken to the head of the agency. "I think we can find some common ground," Kingston said.

More than a year later, as Kingston competes in a crowded Republican primary race for a U.S. Senate seat, the congressman is no longer talking about common ground.

See original here:
Republicans Say No to CDC Gun Violence Research

Related Posts

Comments are closed.