One of the most disturbing aspects about our national debate over gun safety and gun violence is that we know so little about these important topics. Our ignorance is no accident. From 1986 to 1996, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sponsored high-quality peer-reviewed research into the underlying causes of gun deaths and injuries. When the findings of a research project of the CDC contradicted the preferred messages of the National Rifle Association and the firearms industry, their congressional supporters swung into action to silence the agency. In 1996, Representative Jay Dickey, then a Republican from Arkansas, introduced …