The government's prohibition of funding research on a public safety issue that is costing thousands of Americans their lives cannot be justified by any reasonable train of thought.

Since 1997, Congress has put in place a ban on funding research on gun violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, the American Medical Association (AMA) has taken a stand against that prohibition and declared gun violence a major public health problem.

The group's near-unanimous vote to "actively lobby" for repeal of the research ban comes in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, where 49 people were gunned down in a nightclub and dozens others were injured. It comes in light of shooting tragedies at Virginia Tech; Newtown, Conn.; Aurora, Colo.; and San Bernardino, Calif.

Americans are often stunned when they hear that the government banned researching something that matters to the public safety of citizens.

But there it is. Passed in 1997, the ban on funding gun-related research stemmed from an unfounded fear that somehow politicians would use empirical research to indiscriminately change gun laws or erode the Second Amendment.

That argument first assumes that the research will be biased and, second, that people will not be able to recognize the bias. Both assumptions are weak arguments. The 1997 budget amendment prohibited using funds for any research that would "advocate or promote gun control."

Many in the Republican caucus and the so-called "doctors caucus" in Congress already have opposed the AMA push to open the door to research, some saying that it is "not needed" and that the current ban on gun research "works well."

But the original author of the original budget amendment, former Rep. Jay Dickey, R-Ark., now opposes it, noting that the measure went too far in banning all gun research. The original intent was to restrict "advocacy" research on banning guns, which Dickey says was much different than banning all gun research.

He told National Public Radio last year that he regrets the lack of research because it could have made a real difference in handling the current spate of mass shootings.

It's time to stop regretting and start doing something to change the gun research ban. The AMA is on the right track. We would do well to support them.

FROM AN EDITORIAL IN THE MANKATO FREE PRESS