Thompson: Former Rep. Jay Dickey Calls to End Federal Ban on Gun Violence Research

Press Release

U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-5), Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, today released a letter from former Republican U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey in which he calls for the Dickey Amendment to be repealed, and for federal research to be conducted on the causes of gun violence, provided that nothing is done to infringe the rights of gun ownership. The Dickey Amendment, authored in 1996, effectively blocked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC from carrying out the necessary research to better understand how to prevent gun violence.

"I commend Jay Dickey for taking this stand. As gun owners, we want to protect the Second Amendment. But at the same time, we recognize the fact that we can safeguard those rights while also allowing our expert scientists to conduct research on how to best prevent gun violence," said Thompson. "There is not one good reason to keep this ban in place. Gun violence takes the lives of 30-plus Americans every single day. There are experts who are ready and able to look into what can be done to stop it. The problem right now is that they're hamstrung. Doctors agree, medical professionals agree, even the author of the amendment agrees: it's time to let our experts do what they do best -- conduct research that will save some lives."

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