FBI gun background checks remained high in April during coronavirus pandemic

[sarisataka]

3. I came across an interesting parallel today

5 INVESTIGATES: Juul recruited U of M researcher as vaping controversy intensified

A popular e-cigarettee manufacturer, already being sued by the state of Minnesota for allegedly fueling a youth vaping epidemic, is now accused of trying to legitimize its business by recruiting public health researchers—a practice critics say is ripped directly from the Big Tobacco playbook, 5 INVESTIGATES has found.

snip

"They said 'We’re interested in funding investigator-initiated research,'" Parks said. "And often, that comes with the connotation that it's unbiased… I did question, what did that mean to them?"

snip

"Your moniker as an academic, your institution that you work for, your good name – they get to borrow from," said research associate Yogi Hale with the University of California - San Francisco. "They’re basically vampirically sucking your reputation and trying to bolster theirs."

https://kstp.com/news/5-investigates-juul-recruited-u-of-m-researcher-as-vaping-controversy-intensified-july-6-2020/5783926/?cat=1

It seems gun control organizations follow the same playbook as big tobacco to get favorable studies. You simply fund the study and somehow it just happens to reach a result you like.

Perhaps that is why this, like so many others, is published without peer review. I suppose the tactic should not be surprising since the person who is arguably the face of the movement is also a former Monsanto PR exec.