A ban on federal funding of research into gun violence initiated by Congress in 1997 must be overturned to improve understanding of gun use and how best to control it, argue experts in The BMJ today.
In an editorial, Margaret Winker and colleagues say the move has had "a chilling effect on gun violence research to this day" and they argue that "US history and the political pressure brought to bear by the National Rifle Association have so far proved impossible to defy."