Key Points
- CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says time to study guns as “public health issue.”
- Historically, the CDC has taken an anti-gun stance.
- Studying guns as a “public health issue” may pave the way for more gun control legislation.
If we’ve learned anything in the last year, it’s the inherent danger that comes with labeling something a “public health issue.” Where there’s a health issue, there’s significant potential for government overreach and abuses of power – just look at all the shutdowns and mandates.
So, what else can be done in the name of health?
The Biden administration has already announced that climate change and climate equity are matters of public health, and it sounds like gun control will follow suit.
According to CNN, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky feels now is the time for a pivot from the COVID pandemic to gun violence. “Something has to be done about this,” Walensky told CNN. “Now is the time. It’s pedal-to-the-metal time. “We haven’t spent the time, energy and frankly the resources to understand this problem because it’s been so divided.”
“I swore to the president and to this country that I would protect your health,” Walensky added. “This is clearly one of those moments, one of those issues that is harming America’s health….We haven’t spent the time, energy, and, frankly, the resources to understand this problem because it’s been so divided.”
So, Walensky and her CDC cohorts are on the case. But is that a good thing? No, not really. Despite her pledge to find common ground with those on either side of the issue, the CDC has, historically, taken a very anti-gun stance.
According to Reason, “CDC-sponsored research in the past typically has served an anti-gun agenda that aims to reduce homicide and suicide by limiting access to firearms. Second, President Joe Biden has consistently used ‘public health’ rhetoric to give his pre-existing gun control ambitions a scientific patina.”
Biden’s gun control proposals like prohibiting assault weapons, limiting magazines, and performing background checks for every gun transfer will be examined by the CDC with renewed interest and held up to the light of “public health.” Unfortunately, gun advocates won’t like what Walensky & Co. “see.”
A fight for the Second Amendment may be on the horizon.
