system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
if we knew the final answer, we'd be fixing the problem.

ask 100 people, get 100 different answers, all of them biased.

gun control people think eliminating or severely limiting gun access is the answer. yet in northern europe, there are many guns and virtually no gun violence. conversely, in ireland there are very few guns, and likewise virtually no gun violence.

&amp;#x200B;

ask me as a mental health practitioner, and i'll tell you that severe lack of mental healthcare, as well as social stigma and general incredulity and distrust related to mental healthcare, are the underlying causes.

ask a school social worker, and they may tell you that they agree with me, BUT they also believe poverty, lack of school resources, and various other social injustices are greater contributors than mere lack of mental health resources.

&amp;#x200B;

ask 98 others, and you'll get 98 other answers.

and we're all utterly convinced that WE are correct.

which is also part of the problem.
gpt
The CDC is also banned from researching gun violence except for some limited instances, and that's only recently. Prior to that they were banned completely.

If you genuinely believe the fundamental problem is we just don't know, then you'd want research done, but people with lobbying money know *exactly* what the results of research are going to be and I sincerely doubt they are worried about studies advocating more mental healthcare funding.