Rep. Costello: Lift gun violence research ban
WASHINGTON » U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist., joined with two Democratic colleagues recently calling for an end to the federal government’s effective ban on researching gun violence as a public health crisis.
In a conference call arranged by the center founded by former Arizona Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, who survived being shot at a public event in 2011, the congressmen focused on the “Dickey Amendment,” attached to every government funding bill since 1996, which 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.”
Named after former U.S. Rep. Jay Dickey of Arkansas, the amendment was created “in response to a 1993 research study funded by the Center for Injury Prevention and Control, a department within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found having a gun at home increases the risk of both homicide and suicide,” according to the Giffords organization.
That language has had a “chilling effect” on national gun research, which has since fallen by 96 percent, said Mike McLively, director of Giffords Law Center’s Urban Gun Violence Initiative.
By way of example, he said because of that language, the federal government has funded 80 research projects on rabies, compared to only three on gun violence, which killed more than 30,000 people in 2016.
Although there is some argument about whether the interpretation of the Dickey Amendment language is the cause of the gun research drought — Dickey himself has since said he regrets the amendment may have been used to stifle research — Costello said during Wednesday afternoon’s conference call that the legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, Democrat of Florida, would “do away with any competing interpretations once and for all.”
Murphy’s bill was raised Wednesday at the White House during a televised meeting between President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and members of Congress from both parties, said, Murphy, who was at the meeting as well as on the press call.
Murphy said both Trump and Pence seemed interested in the idea of more research, adding Trump “seems open to a lot of ideas” on the issue of gun violence.
According to a report in The New York Times early Wednesday evening, at the White House meeting, Trump called “for comprehensive gun control that would expand background checks, keep guns from the mentally ill, secure schools and restrict gun sales from some young adults.”
For his part, Costello said his support for the bill comes from “the perspective of someone who doesn’t want this to be politicized.”
He said “everyone agrees there are some cultural concerns related to technology. There is violence in movies, in video games and the celebrity attached to mass murderers. Six-and 7-yearolds are being exposed to images of violence like I never was when I was that age and most agree it can
“We’ve always had mental health issues to deal with in this country, but what else is going on now to cause a person with mental health problems to turn to a mass shooting as a way of getting their aggression out?” U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6th Dist.
lead to a deadening, a desensitizing to gun violence,” Costello said.
“We’ve always had mental health issues to deal with in this country, but
what else is going on now to cause a person with mental health problems to turn to a mass shooting as a way of getting their aggression out?” Costello asked.
Costello has made a number of media appearances in recent days to discuss various aspects of the gun control debate. On Sunday, he spoke with MSNBC correspondent Kacie Hunt about the possibility of an assault weapons ban and background checks, among other issues.
He said it would be useful if there were common language in bills about assault weapons that everyone could agree on.
“I think the real problem right now with this debate is you have people very passionate saying the same words, meaning different things,” Costello said. “Look, the ToomeyManchin bill (on background checks) should pass. That should be done. Bump stocks should be done. We need to do the ‘Fix NICS’ bill. I think there’s a group of things that everyone can agree to, and then we move into this discussion and hopefully develop a vocabulary that everyone can wrap their arms around.”
“Here’s the big frustration with the American people – I think there are those who may not be totally engaged in the vocabulary of the gun debate that say, I understand that this bill would not have prevented that tragedy that just happened, but this bill is commonsense – so your inability to do even the commonsense stuff really frustrates me, and I’m asking myself, why don’t you do the stuff that should get done,” he said.
Asked Hunt, a 2003 Conestoga High School graduate, “You could support a certain type of assault weapons ban?” Costello answered affirmatively.
”Yes. I mean, if you look at what Congressman Mast laid out, you’re talking about the type – how quickly the bullets come out, what types of bullets are used. Those are the sorts of things where I think we need to lay all of the facts on the table so that we are all using the same definition, which I think was the point of his editorial. He also went and laid out four or five other things that I think we need to get done.