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$3ortlanb (Observer Career April IO. 2013 E ducation Page 9 SPE C IA L E D IT IO N Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. What the NRA Doesn’t Want Ignorance or bliss is not sound policy by M arian W right E delman Why is the National Rifle Asso- ciation so afraid of the truth? There are many m isconceptions about guns and gun violence swirling wound in Americans’ minds— and in many cases, this misinformation is no accident. For years the NRA has blocked the truth and actively fought against and prevented research in the causes and costs of gun violence because they don’t want Ameri- cans to know the truth about guns, how to prevent gun violence, and how to make themselves and their children safer. Why else would they have Con- gress pull gun injury prevention research funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the N ational Institutes o f Health? Why have we put up so long with efforts to block all research on a huge public health threat that injures and kills tens of thousands of Americans every year? As Arthur Kellermann and Frederick Rivara write in the Februaiy 2013 Journal of the Ameri can Medical Association article “Si- lencing the Science on Gun Re search:” “What can be done to re duce the number of residents who die each year from firearms, cur- rently more than 31,000 annually? The nation might be in a better po- sition to act if medical and public health researchers had continued to study these issues as diligently as some of us did between 1985 and 1997.” Instead, they note beginning in 1996 pro-gun members of Con- gress began mounting an all-out effort to eliminate any funding for research connected to gun injury prevention. And as Kellermann and Rivara explain, this continued re- fusal to fund any research isn’t just an academic matter: “Injury preven- tion research can have real and last- ing effects. Over the last 20 years, the number of Americans dying in motor vehicle crashes has decreased by 31 percent. Deaths from fires and drowning have been reduced even more, by 38 percent and 52 percent, respectively. This progress was achieved without banning automo biles, swimming pools, or matches. Instead, it came from translating research findings into effective in terventions. Given the chance, could researchers achieve similar progress with firearm violence? It will not be possible to find out unless Con gress rescinds its moratorium on firearm injury prevention research.” The concerted campaign to hide the truth and block research is fi nally facing new scrutiny and oppo sition. President Obama’s proposed gun safety package would end the freeze on gun injury prevention re search although the amounts re quested are inadequate. Ignorance is not bliss or sensible or sound policy, and in the case of our na tional gun violence epidemic igno rance is actually fatal. We need to to Know make decisions based on the truth and counter the NRA misinforma tion that has been infecting our nation. It’s time to challenge and deflate NRA misinformation and recognize that it does not speak for most American gun owners or even the majority of its membership. For ex ample, polling data shows that 85 percent of gun owners and 74 per cent of NRA members support uni versal background checks— a policy position the NRA vehemently op poses now. The NRA argues that back ground checks don’t work. The re ality is that criminal background checks do work and making them universal at the federal level would make them far more effective. Since its implementation in 1994, the Brady Law, which instituted a federal back ground check requirement for sales through licensed dealers, has de nied 2.1 million applications to pur chase a firearm. But its impact has been limited by the ability of crimi nals to access firearms through pri vate sales. Another bit o f misinformation from the NRA is that universal back ground checks will lead to a registry of gun owners. The Brady Law ex plicitly bans the creation o f a gun owner registry, and under that law instant criminal background checks have been made on over 100 million gun sales in the last decade without leading to the formation o f a gun registry. Here again, misinformation has paralyzed effective gun safety pro tections. The vast majority of re sponsible gun owners support back ground checks because they know that the only people who will be negatively impacted are criminals and those who sell them firearms. Please do your homework and decide for yourself. Let’s break the NRA lock on the research door to learn and share the truth about the human, economic and public safety costs of gun violence in our nation. I believe the truth will set us free. Marian Wright Edelman is presi dent o f the Children's Defense Fund. Trayvon Martin Tragedy Still Stings Adding salt to an open wound by B enjamin T odd J ealous One year later, the Trayvon Martin tragedy still stings, and some people are still throwing salt on the open wound. Last month George Zimmerman's brother, Robert Zimmerman, posted a tweet com p a rin g T ray v o n M a rtin to De'Marquis Elkins, 17-year-old black teenager charged with fatally shoot ing a one-year-old baby. The tweet showed a photo of Elkins side by side with a photo of Martin, both making inappropriate gestures, with the caption "A pic ture speaks a thousand words. Any questions?" Zimmerman's follow-up tweet read "Libferal] media [should] ask if what these [two] black teens did [to] a [woman and her baby] is the rea son [people] think blacks might [be] risky". The implication was that Trayvon Martin's actions on the night he was mur dered were equivalent to the killing of an innocent child. This would be worri some enough if it were just the opportunistic cry of a family embroiled in racial controversy. But this belief - that male "black teens" are inherently more likely to be crimi nals - is ingrained in our society. It has seeped into our institutions in the form of racial profiling, and too often it poisons the judgm ent of those who are supposed to protect us. Last year I visited Sanford, Fla. in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case. The NAACP hosted a forum *** Jlortlanb (Obstruer P u b l is h e r : E d it o r : Established 1970 M ark Washington M ic h a e l L e ig h to n where residents could report inci dents of police abuse. A number of African American mothers alleged that their teenage sons had been profiled, abused or even assaulted by the police. I found that the atti tude of the local police department toward "black teens" was uncom fortably similar to that of Robert Zimmerman. But the fact is that 50 years after the Civil Rights Act, racial bias still runs rampant among law enforce m ent in th is c o u n try . And Zimmerman's attitude infects an in stitution much more influential than the Sanford Police Department: the NYPD. The Ne w York Police Department is currently fighting a class-action lawsuit against their racially biased practice of "stop-and-frisk" polic ing. Stop-and-frisk allows officers to stop, question and physically USPS 959-680 search any individual they consider suspicious. In 2011 NYPD officers stopped nearly 800,000 people for alleged "suspicious activity." Nine out of 10 were innocent, 99 percent did not have a gun - and nine out of 10 were black or Latino. There’s evidence that patrol of ficers may be encouraged to meet arrest quotas. A tape played at the trial reveals a supervising officer asking for "more 250s," or more stop- and-frisk forms. One plaintiff, a po lice officer, testified about the pres sure he felt from supervisors - "they were very clear, it's non-negotiable, you're gonna do it, or you're gonna become a Pizza Hut delivery man." Leaked recordings reveal that the NYPD has effectively placed a bounty on "black teens." By profil ing young teens of color, they are using the same grisly logic as Rob ert Zimmerman. And the result is apparent: in 2011, black and Latino men between the ages of 14 and 24 made up 42 percent of those tar geted by stop-and-frisk. That group makes up less than 5 percent of the city's population. The crim e attrib u ted to De'Marquis Elkins' was truly horrific and despicable. But Elkins does not represent an entire demographic, just like Adam Lanza did not act on behalf of all young white men. Racial profiling punishes inno cent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them. It misdirects crucial resources and undercuts the trust needed between law enforcement and the communities they serve. It has no place in our national discourse, and no place in our nation's police de partments. Ben Jealous is president and chiefexecutive officer ofthe NAA CP. 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 The Portland Observer welcom es freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property o f the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent o f the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition o f such ad. © 2008 THE PORT E xecutive D irector : Rakeem Washington LAND OBSERVER. 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