Allow gun research

We genuinely appreciate Emily Mills’ perspective on many topics, most recently her column on the Dickey Amendment (“First things first: Let’s stop banning research,” Crossroads, Oct. 8).

We knew the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was barred from researching gun statistics, but we had never heard of the Dickey Amendment. Rather than other seemingly futile actions, repealing this amendment would be a solid step to lessen gun violence. Barring research by the CDC is like burning books, and that has never advanced human well-being.

The time to repeal the Dickey Amendment is now. When a train derails and an oil tanker explosion kills people, do we say this is not the time to revisit railroad regulations? It dishonors the victims when we say we cannot now be moved by their tragedy to take action to save others.

We would like to believe House Speaker Paul Ryan when he said these mass shootings are not who we are and that, “They do not define us.” Based on the two months we spent in Canada last year and what we read in the global press, they are defining us to the rest of the world.

Other countries see us as a society where guns are a birth right and health care isn’t. In their eyes we are willing to endure astonishingly high casualties as a consequence. How high? Hard to tell: The Dickey Amendment is keeping us from getting a good handle on that.

Legislators should be able to get behind this repeal action because the cost is minimal and the benefit is a more informed public that will make better decisions about guns.

Allen Jacobson and Lila Daut Milwaukee