Something For Everyone In The NYT/CBS Poll

1,275 primary voters were surveyed between December 4 - 8, 2015. Many of the responses followed patterns we've seen in prior polling: Mr. Trump holds a commanding lead over his rivals, Secretary Clinton is still 20 points over Senator Sanders, Senator Cruz has gained ground, and now it's Senator Rand Who?

The questions also addressed terrorism and gun control. Not surprisingly, the percentage of respondents who expect a terrorist attack inside the USA in the next few months jumped from 28% to 44% in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings, and 70% think ISIS is a major threat.

It's the gun control results that leave a lot to interpretation. Commentators on Townhall have pointed out that for the first time support for a ban an assault weapons has dropped to 44% while opposition to a nationwide ban has spiked to 50%. With evidence that Americans are nervous about another terrorist attack, concerns about access to high-powered weapons seem understandable.

But those same respondents think, by a significant majority, that laws governing gun purchases should be more strict (51%) versus less strict (10%) and a plurality think stricter gun laws would help reduce gun violence, particularly if better mental health screening was implemented.

My Take: San Bernardino has rattled our nerves about ISIS and the natural reaction to that is keeping access to military-style weapons. At the same time, we're concerned that crazy people have too much access to firearms and we'd like laws to prevent another Aurora Theater or Sandy Hook massacre. In short, the foreign threat presented by ISIS is evil while Americans who commit far more mayhem on us are mentally ill.

We Don't Know What We're Dealing With

It's pretty simple: to fix a problem you have to understand it.

I can't say I've run across anyone who thinks mass shootings are a good idea. I can say I've heard an enormous range of opinions on what to do about them, ranging from "nothing" to "close mosques." Would any of those work to reduce the chance of random death by gunfire? Who the hell knows - research, the kind of thing that would actually answer questions about mass shootings - has been discouraged by law since 1998.

It's time for that to change. The Dickey amendment, which prohibits federal funding of any research that might lead to gun laws, must go. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with the National Institutes of Health must be given permission and funding to figure out why 4 or more people are wounded or killed in gun violence events every day in America.

This ban, supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA), has effectively silenced researchers at both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) for conducting any comprehensive studies on what causes violence — and what can be done to prevent it — since 1998. As expected, it’s left public health experts and policymakers with little to lean on as they attempt to craft new legislation to help quell the fatal trend.

There's no reason to treat this carnage as inevitable. There's plenty of reason to treat it as a public health problem. We know how to deal with public health problems. We recently saw dozens of Chipotle Grill restaurants closed because of diarrhea, for pity's sake. Multiple homicide should rate at least the same level of attention.

The Dickey amendment has to go. Research has to begin. Answers have to be found.

Instead of New Gun Law, Let's Enforce the Ones We Have

In Providence, Rhode Island one police detective is tasked with tracing the history of every firearm seized by the police department. His findings will be reported to local and state government next year, but what he's learned so far is troubling.

A member of the Oriental Rascals gang shot and wounded a member of the Tiny Rascals gang in the West End in April. The Oriental Rascal had legally purchased his gun in Cranston; the Tiny Rascal was carrying a gun last sold to someone in West Virginia.
A convicted felon who had been tailgating two officers in the violent crime task force in Elmwood in June tossed a 9mm pistol into a trash barrel. The gun was linked to a homicide investigation in Boston.
Kyle Machado, 38, died Sept. 12 during a fight on Trenton Street. The Ruger .357 revolver used to kill him was found wrapped in a T-shirt on Smith Hill less than a week later. It had been reported stolen in Cranston in 1997. Where it spent the next 18 years is anyone's guess.

How do so many weapons end up in irresponsible hands? Part of the problem might be inconsistent or unenforced guns laws.

State law requires people to report their firearms lost or stolen within 24 hours, but many go unreported. The crime is a felony in Connecticut. In Rhode Island, the penalty is a $50-to-$100-fine — far less than the $500 fine for parking illegally in a handicapped spot.

Unquestionably, a major contributor to the problem of untraced guns in circulation is a lack of gun registries. In Rhode Island, for instance, state gun registries have been prohibited by law since 1959.

A "Little Bit" Of Knowledge Is Dangerous; None At All Is Deadly

The author of the Dickey amendment that forbids research into gun violence is interviewed.

His law ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention never to fund research that could be seen as advocacy for gun control. Since the 1990s, that provision has commonly stopped any gun studies because researchers don't want to risk losing federal money, and that is what Jay Dickey regrets.

Gun Safety Initiative Faces Uphill Struggle

Smart gun technology always seems like such an obviously good thing. Tech that can prevent use of deadly weapons by non-owners doesn't seem to have a down side. At the least, tech that can prevent a gun owner from being killed with his own pistol should be attractive, and preventing accidental child death by gunshot would reasonably be expected to receive universal approval.

Armatix was a company that manufactured a smart gun that could only be fired by its owner. The concept was seen as a step toward reducing gun violence but zealots raised such a fuss the company eventually was forced into bankruptcy. 

Well, here's some failed gun news I actually like to hear. A gun company seeking to produce a smart gun has filed chapter 11 restructuring.

 Armatix, makers of the ip1 smart gun, a gun that was pushed by communist gun-grabbing Democrats and the only gun that could be legally sold in New Jersey in 2014, under Governor Chris Christie, entered into "chapter 11-style restructuring proceedings in Germany" on May 20, 2015.

Court of Appeals Decision May Have Wider Implications

The New York State Psychiatric Association, an organization of psychiatrists, has won a favorable decision in its challenge to an insurance company's coverage decision process.

The New York State Psychiatric Association (NYSPA) brought a class action lawsuit alleging violation of state and federal laws by United. United's practices were claimed to have been designed to create the illusion of impartiality and fairness, while undermining access to treatment for patients with mental health claims. United challenged the legal standing of the NYSPA to represent the interests of its members and members' patients.

The second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that NYSPA does have standing to represent its members.  

I think this is a significant decision in that it gives providers legal standing to speak and advocate for their patients in class action lawsuits. It's an important precedent because it opens the door for other medical associations, like the American Academy of Pediatrics, to advocate in other class actions, such as, say, suits against firearms manufacturers or NRA-backed rules that discourage research into gun safety.

Stay tuned.

Background Checks And Suicide: One Seems to Inhibit the Other

New research suggests that background checks can act to reduce suicide by firearms. Many of the elements evaluated in background checks - like history of domestic abuse and significant mental illness - are also risk factors for suicide.

The current study looked at suicide by firearm rates in Connecticut, where a stricter background check is required, and Missouri, where background checks have been eliminated.  The rate of suicide in Connecticut dropped by double digits while in Missouri they increased.

“Contrary to popular belief, suicidal thoughts are often transient, which is why delaying access to a firearm during a period of crisis could prevent suicide,” said study author Daniel Webster, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, in a press release announcing the study’s findings on Tuesday. “Just as research indicates that handgun purchaser licensing laws are effective in reducing firearm homicides, they could reduce suicides by firearms as well.”

Houston Shooter Had Lengthy History of Mental Illness

It doesn't sound as if "Black Lives Matter" mattered so much in this tragic case. It does sound like Texas may want to examine its mental healthcare system. And maybe how its lax gun safety laws might have contributed to a mentally ill man obtaining a semi-automatic weapon.

The man accused of shooting and killing a suburban Houston officer has a history of mental illness and once lived in a homeless shelter, authorities said Monday.

Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave. - Blade Runner

When Pew polled Americans about guns, this entirely unsurprising result turned up:

Men are more likely than women to say that gun rights are more important than gun control by a 10-point margin. While big majorities of black (72 percent) and Hispanic (75 percent) people say gun control is more important, a majority of white people (57 percent) disagree. (emphasis added)

Too bad they didn't stratify by state.