* I have been suggesting for months that Chicago’s violence problem is a public health emergency. So, when Crain’s Chicago Business ran this op-ed by Karen Teitelbaum, the president and CEO of Sinai Health System in Chicago, I decided to share it all with you today…
About the numbers, there is no dispute. Deaths and injuries from gun violence in Chicago are our modern-day version of the plague. We have surpassed 300 homicides already this year, with 13 people killed by guns on Father’s Day alone. On the heels of another summer holiday, reports count 2,021 shooting victims so far this year, moving rapidly to overtake the 2,988 victims in all of 2015.
If we continue at this pace, we can expect to see 30,000 Chicagoans killed or wounded from gunshots in the next 10 years. Morbidity and mortality from such violence are two of the most dramatic examples of health disparities in our city, profoundly impacting communities of color.
Another vigil, moment of silence or chanting in the streets will not change this awful trajectory. We need answers that lead to solutions, and we need them now.
Answers that work—that provide real and sustainable change for the better—cannot come without research. Without the research that tells us the root causes of gun violence, how toddlers and children find guns in the house, why 60 percent of gun deaths are by suicide and what interventions can curb it, we are just guessing, feeling our way in the dark.
It is an outrage that Congress has specifically prohibited the Centers for Disease Control from funding gun violence research. Following the massacre in Orlando, the American Medical Association House of Delegates last month did the right thing and resolved to lobby Congress actively to overturn this policy.
We can hope for change in Congress, and we must support efforts to move policy, but last month’s Senate votes demonstrated once again how hard it will be to get that change. And with a presidential election looming large, it is unlikely major issues will be addressed until after January.
Chicago cannot wait. To find those answers, we have to come together as researchers, as funders, as leaders, as policy makers, as parents and as people who value life.
As Dr. Leslie Zun, the chairman of the Mount Sinai Hospital Emergency Department states, “We can save lives and continue patching people up who have been shot, but we would much rather be seeing less trauma and more ways to curb the escalating volume of violence that sends these critically wounded patients our way.”
If Chicago is rich in anything, it is rich in intellectual capital and civic commitment. We need to bring together those of us in Chicago who have the research expertise, experience and commitment to health care disparities to identify the causes and solutions to Chicago’s plague. We need to tap those in the streets who fight this violence daily to share their thoughts and strategies. We need our civic leaders and corporate community to support those efforts. We need our university researchers to share their skills. And we need the active participation of our city policy makers to launch this effort.
Every day we see the devastation of gun violence in our emergency room. Every. Single. Day.
There are great examples of public health research saving lives, from rear-facing infant car seats, to earlier cancer detection, to smoking cessation. Now is the time to use these same scientific approaches and Chicago’s considerable resources to find the solutions to reduce gun violence.
Sinai Urban Health Institute has been reaching out to fellow researchers, civic leaders, academic resources, public health experts and others who share our urgency to find a solution to disrupt the violence in Chicago.
We believe in our collective power to bring some of the finest research minds together, and we will have a real impact on this epidemic. This is not an idea; it’s an imperative.
As noted above, the federal government won’t be any help, so my only addition would be that the state needs to get directly and actively involved in this endeavor as well. This crisis cannot be solved solely by the police, prosecutors and the judiciary.
- Dome Gnome - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:24 am:
Yes, yes, and also . . . yes.
- Maximus - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:31 am:
I find it incredible that bills were passed at the federal level that specifically prevent the CDC from doing research on gun violence. That sort of bill should never be passed for anything… why would it ever be a good idea to prevent the CDC from doing research? We prefer to be ignorant and unable to gather data? Hopefully Chicago can set a trend and find ways to curb the violence and gather some facts that can be used to make people understand the gun laws we have are inadequate.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:32 am:
===make people understand the gun laws we have are inadequate===
You completely, totally missed the point.
Sheesh, people. You gotta get outside your little boxes.
- And I Approved This Message - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:36 am:
The author is correct that Congress “has specifically prohibited the CDC from funding gun violence research.” But that is because they are doing the bidding of their masters at the NRA. The NRA is so terrified of ANY action that they perceive as “the camel’s nose under the tent” that they will fight tooth and nail to prevent even the most obvious, logical and benign efforts to address gun violence. Even studying it.
Count how many times you hear today that “it’s too soon” to talk about commonsense gun control.” “We haven’t buried the bodies.” “We haven’t had time to grieve.” “It’s disrespectful to the families.”
Tell me this NRA. With these outrageous events happening almost every other day will it always be too soon? Because that is simply unacceptable.
- Harry - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:39 am:
Sorry, but I disagree–violence is NOT a public health problem–if it is, almost everything is, and public health as a field has no focus. Just because we have a problem and people are hurt does NOT mean that the public health profession has any privileged understanding of it.
It is primarily a social and criminal justice problem, and it is an enormous one in Chicago and many other places, but the normal tools of epidemiology and public health, other than statistics which is used by almost every group, are of little use. Bringing in people who are really just dilettantes in the issue will only distract us from what the real experts say. And distract them from what we need them to be working on, things like lead poisoning of our children, mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, the growing incidence of antibiotic resistant pathogens, better understanding lifestyle health issues such as obesity and diabetes, and so on.
- pool boy - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:42 am:
According to Chicago PD, many of these homicides are related to gang violence. Chicago has Chicago cease fire,project safe neighborhoods, gang resistance education and training programs. Maybe they could provide information or resources.
- Handle Bar Mustache - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:43 am:
Please stay relentless on this Rich.
This is a problem that needs short- and long-term attention.
Gun violence should called what it is: a public health emergency.
I predict Rauner and other Illinois Republicans, sadly, will never admit this given their fealty to the NRA.
(Sorry to “politicize” this, but the politics of a solution are inescapable.)
- siriusly - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:45 am:
I think California just announced an initiative to do their own gun violence studies. Similar to what this piece is suggesting.
Long overdue. Necessary, important. Maddening that we have not done this before.
- Federalist - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:46 am:
Not certain why the CDC would do this research unless you believe it is a medical disease and I don’t.
In my opinion, another government agency to do this needs to be discussed that would be more appropriate.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:49 am:
–If Chicago is rich in anything, it is rich in intellectual capital and civic commitment. We need to bring together those of us in Chicago who have the research expertise, experience and commitment to health care disparities to identify the causes and solutions to Chicago’s plague. We need to tap those in the streets who fight this violence daily to share their thoughts and strategies. We need our civic leaders and corporate community to support those efforts. We need our university researchers to share their skills. And we need the active participation of our city policy makers to launch this effort.–
Brilliant.
This is something that is doable, on the local level. This is where political leaders need to do the heavy lifting to bring together and marshal the various resources throughout the community that can contribute.
Gov. Rauner, Mayor Emanuel, that’s you.
You wanted the gigs, get to it.
- Maximus - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:55 am:
Rich,
I don’t think I missed the point. Once we have research and numbers and information then we want to do something with that… right? The very end of the article says to “bring some of the finest research minds together.” The end goal of that is to do something whether it be through laws, raising public awareness, changing attitudes and hopefully reducing the violence.
- Blue dog dem - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 10:59 am:
Decent law abiding folks are just plumb scared. Me and Mrs. BLue in the last week , added to our home defense arsenal. We had an issue here in Lincoln Park, and it took 52 minutes for the police to show up. I hope our actions don’t end up adding to the madness around us.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:02 am:
==Decent law abiding folks are just plumb scared.==
No, not all of us.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:07 am:
Murder is not a medical issue. Attempted murder is not a health issue. Being victimized by a crime is not a health issue.
Until the murders stop murdering by seeing a purpose in their lives that raises them above crime, the murderers will keep murdering. You can’t take the means they use to commit these murders out of the equation. 50 years of attempts have exposed the falacies of doing so.
Our joblessness gives men nothing to do during their most productive stage of their lives. Men need a purpose. No jobs mean joining other purposeless men in gangs. Fighting gives men a purpose. Giving men jobs gives them purpose beyond murdering fighting and killing.
When the economy is good for all, men don’t have time to fight and kill. Our economy stinks. The murders reflect it’s stench.
Men don’t want checks or Link cards. They want and need more. They need a purpose and a way to gain respect within their communities. We need jobs. Any of them. At any wage.
This isn’t a health problem. It is a bigger problem. Renaming it isn’t going to work. Be honest. It isn’t the problem.
Jobs are the solution to violence.
- Casual observer - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:07 am:
Gun buy-back programs have proven to be successful. But they are usually setup as one day programs. I think it should be available 24/7/365. Women who give birth and feel overwhelmed can drop their child off at any emergency room or firehouse, no questions asked. People who suspect a family member is contemplating suicide or worse should have an avenue to remove firearms from their house. No questions asked.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:09 am:
== Being victimized by a crime is not a health issue. ==
I’m guessing you’ve never been victimized by a serious violent crime.
- evilt - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:09 am:
when Chicago prosecuters stop pleaing down gun charges to make their cases easier you might start seeing a decline in gun violence. It is a criminal justice issue, it is not a disease, you want a good set of facts, let the FBI do the research. Enforce the current laws and don’t plea down the gun charges. Target the gang bangers.
- Last Bull Moose - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:11 am:
I agree we need study. There are multiple problems touched by guns. Suicide is very different from toddlers finding weapons. Suicide itself splinters into many causes.
Drug related violence is more criminal justice than public health. Not sure why using a public health model would work there.
Break it into pieces and address each piece.
- TheGoodLieutenant - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:16 am:
Modern day plague? Really? I’ll just shoot one figurative hole this. According to CDC data, while the number of suicides have increased in the US from 1999 to 2014, the number of suicides by firearm have in fact decreased in the same period by roughly 6 percent. Couple that with an increase in suicide rates in both Australia and Great Britain as an example where firearms have been all but eliminated and you will see that suicide isn’t a firearms problem. Take one method away and they will find another to complete the task.
Harry is right @ 10:39
- Jack Kemp - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:20 am:
OW, that was - more or less - the suggestion in the post. Not my suggestion.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:36 am:
VMan, you presume that joblessness is a cause of shootings. I suspect you’re right.
I wouldn’t presume that greatly expanded jobs programs would not be part of the recommended solutions from this effort.
The point is to stop the willful ignorance and actually engage on a massive scale locally to study and seek to find solutions to ameliorate the situation. Not “solve,” but ameliorate.
That’s not being done, currently.
There’s nothing to be gained from ignorance and nothing to lose by study.
Unless you’re the NRA and their lackeys in Congress.
Why do you think they move heaven and earth to keep the CDC from doing its job, year after year?
- Doug Simpson - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:39 am:
@Federalist:
-with respect-
Hopefully a helpful analogy here. There is no medical disease involved with operating an automobile. Yet there have been many, many studies done to make driving safer; thus reducing health care costs and improving overall life outcomes. When anyone gets behind the wheel of a vehicle its a public health issue.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:49 am:
And — how many criminal justice practitioners have to spell out that they can’t fix it before you give up on “x is a criminal justice issue”?
- Keyser Soze - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:52 am:
Legalize marijuana and distribute free heroin to proven addicts. Bye bye street gangs.
- Expletivedeleted - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:55 am:
“13 people were killed by criminals on Father’s Day alone.”
Fixed it for ya. An inanimate object does not go out and decide to murder someone. The laws referred to are intended to prevent political appointees from using tax money to create biased “research” to support a political agenda. How about a campaign to get criminals off the street?
- Downstater - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 11:55 am:
LOL- What we have is a headline and journalism crisis. “Modern day plague” REALLY? The black death killed 40% of Europe. We have a few thousand people killed out of hundreds of million. Over 500,000 people die a year from heart disease.
Get a grip Rich.
- Liberty - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:18 pm:
More people die of AIDS every year than guns. Are we banning sex again?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:22 pm:
=== Are we banning sex again? ===
I’m not talking about banning anything. I’m a gun owner. I bought an AR-15 for a friend as a birthday present.
Try growing up and engaging in the topic at hand. I’m totally disinterested in your little tangents, however cute you think you’re being.
- RNUG - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:31 pm:
I don’t see this as a public health issue unless you plan to claim it is a mental health issue.
Wasn’t there already an article a while back stating something like 1,300 criminal / gang members that were identified by the Chicago police were the major cause of most the shootings and other problems?
Kind of sounds like the source of the problem is already known. What apparently isn’t known for sure is exactly what is the root cause of that criminal activity. More likely than not, it is a combination of social and economic issues.
We need both an immediate approach to stop the shootings and a long term approach to address the root causes. Short term, I would guess more police presence and more consistent prosecution using existing laws might help control the current crisis. Long term, changing the socio-economic environment might make a difference IF you can accurately identify the issues that need to be changed.
To the issue of studying this problem, you can do another study but I think we need a consistent approach more than we need another study.
- Publius - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:31 pm:
until we address the growing gap between the haves and have nots this rise in violence will continue. It is easy to recruit children into a gang or to be radicalized if there are limited opportunities for them to better their position.
Like many things we try to address the effects and and not the cause. Reducing the symptoms of a cold does not eliminate a cold
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:44 pm:
–More people die of AIDS every year than guns. Are we banning sex again?–
How much did that Jump to Conclusions mat cost you?
Geez, would it kill some of you to actually read the post before doing your Chicken Little thing?
And Liberty, FYI: No one ever banned sex. Those people in your life that you were sweet on just told you that, to spare your feelings.
- Rasselas - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:48 pm:
Google is your friend, people. See, for example, http://www.preventioninstitute.org/component/jlibrary/article/id-143/127.html
There is a broad consensus within the public health community that, with violence being one of the top 10 causes of mortality and morbidity, the public health approach of epidemiology, education and interventions can play a role in reducing violence. Think back to the 60s - public health has nothing to do with automobiles, but public health practitioners contributed to the fight for seat belts, airbags, DUI law changes, improved highway design and the like.
By the way, reducing violence had been part of the State’s strategic plan for public health for a dozen years, until the current administration removed it in 2015.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 12:56 pm:
Kudos to Sinai in joining Luries Children’s Hospital and other leading academics who realize that violence is an epidemic in this country.
Not just gun violence, but assaults, rapes, domestic violence, bullying all the way back to child abuse.
But with all due respect to Sinai and the many well intended commenters here…
Another study? Really??
It lacks any sense of urgency.
It’s not as if we don’t know how to reduce violence.
And, we don’t have to go far to find successful programs.
Rich was kind enough to publish many of them yesterday in his list of state programs the governor proudly slashed.
So, I suggest as a start we work to restore funding for Ceasefire, child care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, home care for the elderly, and supports for families of those with disabilities.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:09 pm:
==Rich was kind enough to publish many of them yesterday in his list of state programs the governor proudly slashed.
So, I suggest as a start we work to restore funding for Ceasefire, child care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, home care for the elderly, and supports for families of those with disabilities.==
This.
- Doug Simpson - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:10 pm:
Ceasefire treated the issue from an Epidemiological, or Public Health perspective.
- Highspeed - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:16 pm:
So do we think we could say “violence” is a problem and not single out guns? I understand guns are used more, but only cause it’s easy. We have kids killing parents,parents killing kids and not necessarily with guns!
- Rod - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:26 pm:
The original concern on so called medical research relating to guns from the National Rifle Association and the Illinois State Rifle Association, which I belong to, goes back to 1996. The NRA complained to Congress that the CDC was using the results of its research to essentially advocate for gun control. And back at that time, Congress slashed the CDC’s funding by the exact amount that was used for gun-related public health research. The driver of this was an article in the New England Journal of Medicine done with CDC funding (supported by grants CCR 402424 and CCR 403519) that having a gun in the home is associated with a threefold increase in the risk of a homicide. There is a particular line in this study that supporters of gun rights believe goes well beyond just academic research and goes to gun control, it read: “Despite the widely held belief that guns are effective for protection, our results suggest that they actually pose a substantial threat to members of the household. People who keep guns in their homes appear to be at greater risk of homicide in the home than people who do not. Most of this risk is due to a substantially greater risk of homicide at the hands of a family member or intimate acquaintance.”
Supporters of the second amendment believe that the government should not be funding gun control research. If the advocates of gun control want to fund it they are free to do so. I do not support Rich’s thinking on this issue sorry.
- Honeybear - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:30 pm:
– I bought an AR-15 for a friend as a birthday present. –
Okay, I’m totally overtly attempting to be respectful here. Honestly honestly honestly.
I was kind of set back by this statement. It’s as if you typed “I bought my friend a whole tank full of killer hissing cockroaches”
Rich if it’s okay to ask, why an AR-15?
- Juvenal - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:41 pm:
Rod -
Your point is well taken, to which I respond….
Critics also complained when the CDC’s research recommended the use of condoms to slow the spread of AIDS.
Heck, some people still complain about the use of CDC research to bolster the argument that people should immunize their kids.
if you find their research is flawed, please, feel free to point the error of their ways.
But you are basically arguing that the CDC never should have studies the effects of cigarette smoking because people should be free to smoke wherever they want, whenever they want, in America.
It’s the Marlboro Man Argument.
Atleast four Marlboro Men have died of smoking-related illnesses.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:42 pm:
I’ve said this all along. Public. health. issue. Period.
- crazybleedingheart - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:44 pm:
==There is a particular line in this study that supporters of gun rights believe goes well beyond just academic research and goes to gun control,==
Supporters of rational thought don’t think we all have to squeeze our eyes closed because of the way you choose to project your beliefs onto a set of basic facts.
- Politix - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 1:45 pm:
“Supporters of the second amendment believe that the government should not be funding gun control research.”
Huh? Who gave you sole authority to speak on behalf of “supporters of the 2nd amendment”? You can be in support of the right to bare arms AND government-research. The two aren’t mutually exclusive. What are you afraid of?
- Rod - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:09 pm:
Politix I have seen no supporters of the second amendment that support public funding of gun control research. I have seen some who believe the 2nd amendment does not protect the individual right to gun ownership that do, but none that agree with the current Supreme Court interpretation of the 2nd amendment. Have I found one?
- wordslinger - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:11 pm:
–And back at that time, Congress slashed the CDC’s funding by the exact amount that was used for gun-related public health research. The driver of this was an article in the New England Journal of Medicine done with CDC funding (supported by grants CCR 402424 and CCR 403519) that having a gun in the home is associated with a threefold increase in the risk of a homicide.–
Was that finding incorrect?
Why are you afraid of information? It still requires political action to set policy.
- Politix - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:26 pm:
Do you know every 2nd amendment supporter in the US with its population of 320 million?
Speak for yourself.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:30 pm:
The violence is 90% gang related. It is time to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Bring in all available resources, work with the populace of the community and take the neighborhoods back from the gangs. It is absurd innocents gunned down with no real outrage from our black community leaders and/or their representative leadership.
- Todd - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:41 pm:
Back in the day, the CDC saw itself as being an advocate for gun control. Gun owners thought we don’t need our own government lobbying against us and putting out junk science to support that agenda.
http://thefederalist.com/2015/12/15/why-congress-cut-the-cdcs-gun-research-budget/
The statements by those who supported such actions are well known to gun owners as well as their intentions which have merely been driven slightly more underground. . . .
“We need to revolutionize the way we look at guns, like what we did with cigarettes. It used to be that smoking was a glamour symbol — cool, sexy, macho. Now it is dirty, deadly — and banned.”
If medical people want to study the issue fine. My own take is that this is more about sociology. then epidemiology and disease for the overall violence that takes place in Chicago.
at the same time, last nights attack was a para-military operation carried out with tragic effectiveness. None of which has anything to do with the narrative of “gun violence” being a public health crisis.
Same goes for Orlando or San Bernardino. But once again its about pressers and press releases and trying to find a way to move a political agenda.
- Amalia - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:45 pm:
totally down with the money for the study bit. the NRA screaming at the National level to tie the hands of the CDC is just nonsense. but have always disagreed that it is termed a public health emergency. especially because everyone talks about gun violence and the talk about sexual assault is, well….crickets. want to talk about something that affects a person physically and mentally? sexual assault. and if gun violence is a public health crisis, then why are some communities not catching it? because money gives them immunity? it’s not that simple. there are monied gangbangers who don’t live in the hood (Park Ridge) and they are shooting and being shot at. and getting caught. primarily, it’s the gangs. also, public health assumes that everyone can be cured. I’m certain that some of the individuals cannot ever be cured. they can only be incarcerated.
- FormerParatrooper - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 2:59 pm:
The issues that create violence are deeper than firearms. Firearms have existed since the 13th Century, and mankind’s ability to exploit the environment to make tools and create havoc on others has existed since our dawning. The CDC should study the human related causes to unnecessary violence, find the reasons why some are prone to violence more so than others are. Once these reasons are identified then we can find ways to change those who have the propensity for unnecessary violence if there is a possible way to do so.
- kimocat - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:08 pm:
I don’t see the problem with treating gun violence as a public health issue. Yes, yes I know violent people will attack others, but if they have loads of lethal weapons, the outcomes are worse. The NRA seems to want to arm anyone, everyone as much as possible. That would include a lot of people who should not have these weapons. I don’t understand why we can’t change the dynamic here. Instead of waiting for a crime or a court order to remove guns from a dangerous person, why not require that responsible gun owners prove that they are just that? If you want guns, register them and get a license and training to prove you know how to safely handle them. You should have to pass a safety test and shooting test. You should also have to undergo a psych evaluation and produce character references. There, now you can be a good guy with a gun. Gun ownership should be treated like the privilege that it is. There is simply a much too large percentage of our population that should not be trusted with guns of any kind, be they domestic abusers, emotionally unstable or just ugly violent drunks. Any of us can victims of these folks, because even if armed, you may not see it coming.
- Enviro - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:11 pm:
=Jobs are the solution to violence.=
Education and jobs are the solution to crime and violence in Chicago.
Let’s start with early childhood education for all disadvantaged children and also job training.
Then bring jobs back to America and hire American citizens for jobs here… instead of replacing American workers with H-1B visa workers.
- Enviro - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:21 pm:
The research has already been done: http://www.eoionline.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/early-learning/ELCLinkCrimeReduction-Jul02.pdf
- AJ_yooper - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:21 pm:
Good post, Rich! Adopting a public health approach is not strictly a medical approach, e.g. reduction of malaria deaths by mosquito nets or the Panama Canal efforts. There are risk and protective factors affecting health issues (gun violence included) that need to be explored more thoroughly.
- Rod - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:38 pm:
Word yes there were several confounding factors in the study I which should have prevented such a sweeping conclusion from being drawn. If I was afraid of the study Word I would have never referenced it. If those of you who want gun control want more supposed medical studies ask Bloomberg to pay for them, not the CDC.
- Rod - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:45 pm:
Politix you never answered the question as to whether you support the current Supreme Court understanding of the 2nd amendment, i.e. District of Columbia v. Heller.
- kimocat - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:45 pm:
its called a fundimental right, thats why not
- Politix - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 3:47 pm:
It would be great if some of the gun nuts in here would Be a little more authentic when it comes to their true motives.
Rod-we get it. You don’t want to fund research. You don’t want people to know anything more about gun violence or its impact on public health. It’s too much of a threat to your precious gun collection.
Consider this, Rod: It’s not about you.
- Dozer - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 4:01 pm:
that was me on the kincat, ipad put the header in the wrong box
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 4:08 pm:
Enough with the gun control debate. Seriously. Move along. Deletions to follow, and possibly banishments.
- kimocat - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 4:26 pm:
The poster at 3:45 p.m. was not me.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 8, 16 @ 4:51 pm:
===why an AR-15? ===
Because she wanted one and it was pink.
- yinn - Monday, Jul 11, 16 @ 9:30 am:
==better understanding lifestyle health issues such as obesity and diabetes==
These sorts of chronic health issues are often linked to traumatic incidents in childhood.
https://acestoohigh.com/got-your-ace-score/
==The violence is 90% gang related.==
No, it’s not. It’s more like 50%. http://abc7chicago.com/news/chicago-murders-up-75-percent-in-january-2016/1181677/
==I suggest as a start we work to restore funding for Ceasefire, child care, substance abuse treatment, mental health services, home care for the elderly, and supports for families of those with disabilities.==
Yes yes yes yes yes yes.