ANDERSON — Reacting to a recent resolution in Elkhart County, some law enforcement officials in Madison County agree that gun violence is a public health problem that needs more research.
The Elkhart County Board of Health in March passed a resolution that will be sent to Indiana’s congressional delegation. The resolution seeks elimination of the federally mandated prohibition of development and publication of gun violence statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
After extensive lobbying by the National Rifle Association, Congress passed the Dickey Amendment in 1996, effectively ending the CDC’s study of gun violence.
As a result, the federal government has essentially abandoned research of the factors that lead to gun violence and what can be done to prevent it. Since the Dickey Amendment was enacted 22 years ago, more than 600,000 people in the U.S. have been the victims of shootings.
Elkhart County is asking the boards of health in all Indiana counties to adopt a resolution to encourage Indiana’s members in Congress to seek to overturn the Dickey Amendment.
The Madison County Board of Health last week delayed action on the resolution, in order to obtain more information about how many Indiana counties were supportive of the effort.
“I think it (gun violence) is a public health problem,” said Matilda Barber, a member of the local health board.
Statistics from the Indiana State Police show that, as of April 1, there are 855,022 Hoosiers with gun permits. In Madison County, the active number of permits is 18,155. In a county with a population of roughly 130,000 people, that’s one gun permit for every seven people.
Dr. Lydia Mertz, Elkhart County health officer, said Tuesday that officials should recognize that gun violence is a public health problem.
“We can’t solve it without information,” she said. “We expect and hope more health departments will adopt the resolution. We want to do things to make our communities safer. Right now, we don’t have a problem. We don’t want it to be a problem.”
Mertz said the resolution is not asking people to give up their guns.
“We want to take the time to collect all the data on how to stop gun violence,” she said. “The more counties we get, they become another voice. We need a lot of voices to get legislation passed.”
Madison County Sheriff Scott Mellinger said Wednesday the number of permits is not a concern.
“The gun violence we’re seeing is not being done by law-abiding citizens,” he said. “I do think gun violence should be considered a public health hazard.”
Mellinger attributed a recent surge in the number of permit requests to fear that the government might prohibit the right to purchase or carry a firearm.
The sheriff is concerned that people obtaining permits might not receive firearms safety training.
“It’s always a good move to gather information to solve a problem,” he said. “The problem is, in the past, legislation has gone too far or not far enough.”
Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings agreed the number of permits being issued is not a concern.
“Once in a while, people with a gun permit will be engaged in criminal activity,” he said. “My observation is people getting a permit want a firearm for their own safety.”
Cummings noted that road rage incidents can lead to gun violence.
People obtaining a gun permit go through a background check, Cummings noted.
“We can’t do wrong by getting more information,” he said. “We do have a lot of gun violence in this country.”
Citizens should be able to protect themselves, Cummings added.
“The question is what kind of guns should people have,” he said. “Do they need assault rifles and high-capacity magazines?”
Cummings said data collected should be a part of the national discussion on what kind of guns average citizens should be allowed to purchase.