TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
AP: 32f3967c-93ee-48ef-b016-379603d966cf

Do we want the answer or not?

BY Dave Ross  on January 17, 2013 @ 6:33 am (Updated: 6:47 am - 1/17/13 )

This was a strange thing to hear the president say Wednesday: "And while year after year, even those who oppose modest gun safety measures have threatened to de-fund scientific or medical research into the causes of gun violence - I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce it."

I didn't realize that the gun lobby had worked to cut government funding for research into gun violence. That seems odd. That would be like car companies trying to prohibit research on air bags.

Yet, it turns out that in 1997, Congress imposed a moratorium that forbid the CDC to spend any federal money on research that could be used to "advocate or promote gun control." Because the gun lobby considered these studies propaganda. Even though many gun injuries occur in the families of gun owners - who the gun lobby is supposed to be protecting.

And here's another weird thing, I found that about the same number of Americans die in traffic accidents as by gunfire every year - a little over 30,000. But the number of traffic deaths has been dropping steadily - even as driving has increased - thanks to a lot of government-sponsored safety research.

There was also a dramatic decrease in gun-related deaths too, between 1994 and 1999, when the Brady Bill imposed a five day waiting period on gun purchases. But in 1999, when the waiting period was replaced with an instant background check, the number started creeping up again.

It would be interesting to find out if there's a link. But it was during that same period, Congress cut off the funding for gun research. I guess when you don't want to hear the answer, one solution is to make sure you don't ask the question.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (70)


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  • roomtemp wrote...
    Give up your guns!
    January 17, 2013 7:22 am
    Says the guy who's guarded by a squad of secret service men carrying automatic weapons.

    Give up your guns! Says the guy with a sniper squad parked on the roof of his children's school.

    Give up your guns! Says the guy from Chicago, now DC. Who have some of strongest gun laws and the most gun related crime in the country.

    You first...

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  • messiah101 wrote...
    rational
    January 17, 2013 9:43 am
    I overestimated your intelligence by 50-70 IQ points.Didn't you ever give a thought to the gun laws in the areas around DC or Chicago?The info you brought up is useless info.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    To answer your question Dave
    January 17, 2013 7:41 am

    No, people who want to own cannons, .50 cals or whatever do not want to know the truth because once they know the truth, they will have to at that point make a moral decision.

    As long as they have q tips in there ears they can be as immoral as they want to be with ignorance as an excuse for there immorality.

    I am confused by what seems to be a miscommunication, who in the he// said that you have to give up your guns?

    Did the bill actually say that we have to give up our guns? Or are we in full hyperbole?

    Personally, I don't care one way or the other, people can riddle each other up as much as they want, just leave me and my family out of the picture and STAY OFF OF MY PROPERTY.

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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    sporty
    January 17, 2013 8:05 am
    Dave did not ask if we wanted the truth, he asked if we wanted an answer. Almost everyone has an answer. If you want to goose step to the answers being offered by the new Reich, go right ahead. I will ask the same of you, "just leave me and my family out of the picture". The problem is, these guys you are choosing to align yourself with have no intention of leaving anyone alone.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    Come on Kersey
    January 17, 2013 8:15 am

    I am not aligning myself with anybody or any ideology. Believe it or not, I want you and your family to be safe and able to live there life in a crime free environment just as much as I want my family to do the same.

    I am taking the answer to be the "truth", if the answer is not the truth then that's something that we can address and it takes away any credibility of the person giving the answer.

    If my brother tried to harm my family, I would phucck him up just the same as some stranger trying to harm my family, so let's stop with the align yourself hyperbole please.

    I am not against firearms, I am against what seems like a bunch of idiots owning firearms, is there a legitimate way to sort and filter idiots from owning firearms, I don't have an answer and I am willing to listen to any answer from any source as long as it meets vetting and makes common sense and don't affect MY ownership because I like guns as a tool but I definitely don't love them like most folks.

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  • Paul Kersey wrote...
    ok, I'm with that
    January 17, 2013 8:32 am
    I just don't trust most of the propaganda studies and don't think my tax dollars should spent on creating them. Truth cam be found through personal effort, not from what biased sources tells you it is.
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  • messiah101 wrote...
    Paul K
    January 17, 2013 9:31 am
    Mind telling us what propaganda studies you do agree with.You mentioned that "truth can be found through personal effort"Would you mind telling the rest of us how exactly that you find the "TRUTH" that backs your various opinions? Because I for one at times believe I have found the "truth" and months or years latter find that the "TRUTH" had been completely twisted.By the way how do you find an unbiased source?
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  • irony wrote...
    to quote a roman, "what is truth?"
    January 17, 2013 10:49 am
    A) the 53% who believe the facts that are recorded. B) the 47% who use emotional hysteria exploited for the purpose of taking guns away from everyone. your answer will determine the truth. i am the 53%
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  • irony wrote...
    which people group are you calling idiots.
    January 17, 2013 10:47 am
    A) if your refering to the 99.9% of gun owner/users who don't do anything illegal. B) the rest of people who are criminals are aren't going to obey any gun laws. your answer will determine the truth. i am the 99%
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    Irony
    January 17, 2013 5:44 pm
    Here you go:http://mynorthwest.com/174/2178371/Wash-man-accused-of-firing-shots-at-cars There was another one last week that accidentally shot up a mall, he kept it in his pocket like it was a toy, I am sure they all think that they are law abiding citizens, I GUESS YOU ARE ONE OF THEM.
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  • cdbtx wrote...
    For a dose of reality
    January 17, 2013 7:41 am
    I'd suggest reading Robert Levy's Washington Post article.. Levy being the attorney in the Washington DC vs Heller case.

    Compare his words and sensibility with those of Obama, Dave Ross, and the NRA - You're like to discover how out of touch with reality the President, the NRA, and the Media is on this issue.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/robert-a-levy-on-gun-rights-after-newtown-shooting/2013/01/10/edff62f0-5b6b-11e2-beee-6e38f5215402_story.html

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  • sportsguru wrote...
    cdbtx
    January 17, 2013 7:53 am
    Good link, he does make sense. I love sensibility.
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  • kato1967 wrote...
    Guns are not a disease
    January 17, 2013 7:43 am
    The CDC if full of leftist anti-gun zealots who will come up with whatever result pleases them. Knock of the communist propaganda Ross. It's getting old.
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  • mnpat wrote...
    I was happy Dave had input for the AM drive time....
    January 17, 2013 7:46 am
    Unfortunately it was two democratic congressman that couldn't agree more with the liberal agenda......glad to see KIRO is providing balanced thought provoking commentary.
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  • Pat McGrone wrote...
    Guns are bad.
    January 17, 2013 7:50 am
    Don't get me wrong. I have no problem supporting the second amendment and I don't mind people owning guns.

    But, if guns are not bad and can do no harm, then why don't you leaving them lying around the house for the kids to play with. They play with baseball bats, you have knives in the kitchen, you drive them in your cars.

    My point is that guns can real quickly do major harm, so don't treat them like they can't.

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  • Seattle Dad wrote...
    If the science was good...
    January 17, 2013 8:00 am
    then there's no problem with the study. Even Dave quoted studies like the Brady gun ban that coincided with a drop in gun deaths. That one study ignores other statistical data on concealed carry laws reducing gun violence, three strikes reducing violent criminals in the street, etc. Why would the NRA fund the study anyway. If it supports the NRA's stance, then it would be ignored out of hand anyway. The same could be said of Cease Fire or the Brady Bill folks. Their funding of studies would appear equally tainted. The study would be better carried out by an independent think tank that is well respected. While the President certainly took the deaths of the children seriously, there is little he can do as the President except affect law abiding citizens since they're the ones that will follow the law. Undefined assault weapons, 7 bullets instead of 10.... all make the politician look good to the low information voter, but do sadly little to address the problem. It's time for adults to deal with the problem of crazy evil people intent on doing harm to others.
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  • hnuh wrote...
    oh holy heck...
    January 17, 2013 8:03 am
    in 2011 there were approximately 11,000 firearms homicides in the US. So Dave, you and your 30,000 deaths number just prove that we cannot rely on leftist propaganda for anything but consistent unending amoral attention to the goal (whatever that may be in any given instance) In this instance it is disarming the public, which must be done for the left to attain its ultimate goal of complete control over each and every facet of each and every life.(sick fbleeps that you are) The social utility of firearms is that one can cause the death of another at a distance and this is specifically what the leftists must deny the freedom loving people of the USA, the right of self defense. The American left is a cancer.
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  • Zoeller wrote...
    Dave is not only a leftist propaganda machine he is a flat out -
    January 17, 2013 8:27 am
    Liar.
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  • AceBass wrote...
    Just a guess
    January 17, 2013 9:12 am
    I'm guessing that the people who were clamoring to get paid federal money collected as taxes (or borrowed from China) to do these so called "research studies" were associated with Sarah Brady and progressive liberals. Just a guess. Also, when it comes to bullet holes and costs to our system of medicine: Chicago with all its strict infringing gun control is where trauma surgeons from all over the world go to get the best training in emergency trauma care. Why is that?
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  • kayaker wrote...
    Good study
    January 17, 2013 9:16 am
    If you want a good,balanced study that will lay out a large and clear amount of truth regarding firearms, check out the landmark study done by John Lott. Pierce Morgan was so intent on over talking him, he couldn't get a word in, but he is worth listening to. He's one of those guys that went out there and just looked at the data and then began to dig for the truth. An example of truth that goes to some of the comments on gangs, suicides, etc, is that if you take the caucasian only data, then the US population has the same gun crime stats as Belgium-a country that many socialists and anti-firearms freedom people would eagerly compare the US to.
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