Brainard worries that guns are too available in America and result in too much violence, such as the shotgun injury seen in the head X-ray behind him. The 90,000-member American Academy of Family Physicians had emotional debates last year on what stance to take on firearms, largely because there is a dearth of fair research to provide guidance. Similar debates erupted within the 62,000-member College of Surgeons. Gun research focuses on a variety of points, such as what product modifications might reduce injuries. It also could provide a circumstantial breakdown of shootings, explaining how many were domestic in nature or gang-related, and what might be done to prevent these incidents.
Scientists also report an environment stifled by fear of gun advocates.
Though he has never been threatened, he said, gun advocates assault his research ability in the medical journals that publish his studies. Dr. Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, founder of the HELP Network, a public health voice in the national handgun debate, said researchers are gun shy because of these pressure tactics. Dr. James Weber, a faculty member at the University of Michigan Injury Research Center and a gun owner, said he is one of the dissuaded. James Mercy, associate director for science at the CDC's division of violence prevention, did not want to discuss the antagonism surrounding firearm research. Antagonism evident Paul Blackman, Ph.D., is the NRA's official antagonist to the public health study of firearm violence.