Do gun laws prevent violence? Health officials dont know

A sweeping federal review of the nations gun control laws found no proof that they reduce firearm violence, with studies on laws ranging from waiting periods to zero-tolerance school policies having no conclusions.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its report, released Thursday, suggests more study is needed, not that gun laws dont work. But the CDC said it had no plans to spend more money on firearms study, an expensive proposition unpopular with conservative lawmakers, many of whom say the CDC should limit itself to studying diseases.

What this boils down to is that the CDC spent a large amount of money studying the effects of gun control laws and were completely unable to find any evidence that they work. They spin this result as something that requires additional study, but that is an academic stock phrase more than anything meaningful; it is impossible to prove a negative, so anything can be spun as "requiring more research". Given the CDC's known bias, they would have seized upon any evidence they could present to show a benefit from gun control laws. The very fact that they were compelled to admit they could find nothing is very significant; it means there is almost certainly nothiing to find.