Is gun research inherently anti-gun advocacy? In a just world, it wouldn't be. Researchers would simply look for the truth and report what they find, whether they like it or not. If it seemed gun control worked, so be it, because we could trust that they'd also tell us when gun control doesn't.

Unfortunately, that's not what we're seeing. Instead, we see a significant problem with what research we see reported in the media, almost all of which support an anti-gun position. In fact, it's so overwhelmingly anti-gun that it defies the laws of probability. And then we have evidence of self-censorship, where people won't publish research that goes against the current narrative on a given topic. It's unlikely gun research would be immune to this.

And for a long time, funding for it had to come from anywhere but the federal government. The interpretation of the Dickey Amendment popular with anti-gunners kept that money out of reach.

Then, things changed and the gravy train started running again...right up until President Donald Trump cut it off once again.

Now, anti-gun "researchers" are miffed and the NRA, via a piece at America's 1st Freedom, has thoughts on it.

As the Trump administration cracks down on what many describe as wasteful, partisan government spending, anti-gun “researchers” are worried they will no longer be able to use taxpayers’ money to push their propaganda.

The Trace, which is bankrolled by former New York City Mayor and failed presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, recently published a piece highlighting the grievances of anti-gun “researchers” who will no longer be able to bill the American taxpayer.

“For public health researchers and experts who have studied gun violence for years, uncertainty has coursed through decades of efforts to track and fund their scholarship. Now, as the new administration takes aggressive steps to reverse progressive policies and allow pandemic funding to expire, uncertainty is once again the prevailing notion in their field,” reads the article.

The piece also quoted noted anti-gun “researcher” Garen Wintemute, a professor at the University of California, Davis. While presenting his latest “gun violence research” on “political violence and protective orders,” Wintemute said, “the federal funding is going to disappear.” 

Framing this as a “public-health” issue is a favorite tactic of gun controllers, including former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who last year declared “gun violence” to be a “public-health crisis.” In reality, he is referring to a crime issue—law-abiding Americans, by definition, are not the ones to blame.

For decades, gun research went along just fine. There were plenty of studies funded and conducted. There was plenty of anti-gun advocacy disguised as research for the media to amplify.

The real problem is that they want you and me to pay for that advocacy. They want allies in the embattled bureaucracy to funnel them money via various slush funds and grant initiatives so they can reach into deeper pockets than any private non-profit or state government could offer.

Well, they should get used to disappointment, because none of us are really thrilled with what all our tax dollars have been paying for in general, but especially "research" that is nothing more than manufactured justification for infringing on our right to keep and bear arms.

Get a real job and leave our tax dollars alone.