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Blow: America is the gun

In this April 25, 2014, file photo, attendees look over a pistol display at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Indianapolis.
In this April 25, 2014, file photo, attendees look over a pistol display at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Indianapolis. In this April 25, 2014, file photo, attendees look over a pistol display at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in Indianapolis.

By Charles M. Blow/New York Times News Service 4 min read

The current push for stricter gun control is aiming too low.

I’m convinced that we must think big and systemically. We must treat gun violence in this country as a public health crisis, because it is.

First, we must repeal the NRA-backed Dickey Amendment, named for the man who sponsored it, former Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Ark. It reads: “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”

The legislation “stripped $2.6 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – the precise amount budgeted for a study of the health effects of shootings,” The New York Times reported last year.

This is a ridiculous, disastrous piece of legislation because it chokes off funding for research on this crisis and ways to stem it.