Antigun article with commentary.

My comments in red. 

AMERICA IS EXCEPTIONALLY DUMB WHEN TO COMES TO GUNS

By Cynthia TuckerApril 26, 2014 1:01 AM

While Americans typically laud our national "exceptionalism" (She puts exceptionalism in quotes, which means it is not an accurate, literal term. So we're not really exceptional?)-- a sense that the trajectory of history has bestowed greatness upon the United States -- there are a few of our distinctive characteristics that don't deserve celebration. On the subject of firearms, for example, the United States is exceptionally irrational. No other nation has set guns aside as an object of worship.

In addition, we have allowed the gun lobby to suppress research into the public health consequences of our firearms-worshipping culture. Indeed, U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. -- running in a crowded GOP primary for a U.S. Senate seat -- has recently reversed himself, going back on an earlier pledge to support such studies. It hardly gets any loonier than that.We have let a blood-soaked gun lobby dictate our laws and regulations on firearms;(Not true. It's people that elect and people that support certain laws. The stand your ground law has nothing to do with gun sales.)  we have passed "stand your ground" laws that allow violent and angry men to murder unarmed people; (Not true. People are being prosecuted for non-justifiable shootings. And the incidences have not spiked as feared. ) we have given the mentally unstable the ability to buy military-style assault weapons with which they wreak havoc on crowds.(Some truth to this. There's got to be a way to screen out mentally unstable individuals. But I hesitate to put the ability to label a person in the hands of the government bureaucracy.) Last week, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill into law that would allow denizens of his state to carry firearms into government buildings, bars( yeah, drinking and guns aren't such a good idea )  and, God help us, churches.(That' right, because no one ever gets violent of shoots up a church. 

In the 1990s, the National Rifle Association successfully stymied public health researchers who wanted to study the causes and consequences of gun violence.(I can't address the charge that the NRA stymied public health researches but do we really need more research? Violent and out of control people doing violent acts using guns as thier tool)  According to ProPublica, a nonprofit news organization, "funding for firearms injury prevention activities dropped from more than $2.7 million in 1995 to around $100,000 in 2012."

The gun lobby clearly fears that science will discover that guns are dangerous and that, well, more guns are more dangerous. (To quote that famous philosopher Stephen Colbert, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias.") ( Really? Quoting Colbert even toungue in cheek? Check out the book More Guns, Less Crime by Lott )

However, after the Sandy Hook atrocity in December 2012, it appeared that the dead bodies of 20 small children -- and six adults -- might be enough to finally restore some sanity to the national conversation. President Obama issued a presidential memorandum ordering the CDC to "research the causes and prevention of gun violence." The National Rifle Association didn't immediately object, since it recognized the fraught politics of that grief-laden moment.

Some of the NRA's supporters, too, were muted, seemingly willing to consider modest measures to improve public safety. Kingston was among those willing to support more research on gun violence, saying, "Let's let the data lead rather than our political opinions." (Nothing wrong with that. Less examine the effects on gun bans on Chicago and DC, for example ) 

At a Savannah, Georgia, gathering shortly after Sandy Hook, he said: "You have to be a pretty sick person to squeeze a trigger on a human being, particularly unarmed children at a school. I think if we focus and keep beating up on the weapon as the problem, we are missing the big picture of mental health that we can come together on as Democrats and Republicans. I spoke with the head of the CDC last week. I think we can find some common ground."( Accurate point. We are missing a piece of the gun issue with what to do with the mental health or violent individual aspect.)

But Kingston now finds himself in a GOP primary in which some of his right-wing opponents have tagged him as a RINO (Republican In Name Only), despite his solidly conservative credentials. That has left him desperate to court the crazies among his constituents, lest the "fire-at-will" crowd doubt his fidelity to the notion that every American should own his own shoulder-fired missile launcher. (Yeah, let's feed into the guns owners are extreme rhetoric.)

So Kingston has dutifully signed up to block Obama's request for CDC funding for gun violence research, telling ProPublica recently that "the president's request to fund propaganda for his gun-grabbing initiatives through the CDC will not be included" in the next appropriations bill.

That means that some of the questions we desperately need answered won't get the inquiry they deserve: Do background checks deter gun violence? (No. Legally allowable people will get guns. Criminals with records do not. It does not weed out "potentials". ) How many mass shooters had a detectable mental illness? (Legitimate question. The key phrase is detectable. The problem becomes at where is the "Deny gun ownership" threshold? Hearing voices but non-violent? Non-violent as long as they take their medication? Strong belief in conservative politics and 2nd ammendment? ) What is the link between suicide and gun ownership?( Studied and answered. It is true those who have a suicidal ideation will often use a household gun. I believe that if you have a depressed, bipolar or suicidal individual in your household you should not have a gun in the house. Nor large amounts of alcohol and depressants. )  Even Kingston's question about a possible link between violent video games and mass shootings won't be studied. (Studied and answered. No direct link but much in the way for formulating attitudes and graduated desensitization.)

That's just nuts, a reminder of our willingness to be exceptionally dumb about some things.

(Cynthia Tucker, winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, is a visiting professor at the University of Georgia.(Why does that not surprise me. )  She can be reached at cynthia@cynthiatucker.com.)

http://news.yahoo.com/america-exceptionally-dumb-comes-guns-050119860.html