Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Bite This: “Scientists” Uncover Link Between “Gun Violence” and Oral Hygiene

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Bite This: “Scientists” Uncover Link Between “Gun Violence” and Oral Hygiene

Some of us remember our days as kids, when the adults in our lives would tell us before bedtime, “Brush your teeth, and say your prayers.”

It wasn’t a threat, however, but an injunction to end the day on a healthy and uplifting note.

Now, however, “science” is informing us that this old-fashioned directive may, in fact, have had relevance to the issue of “gun violence.”

Anti-gun propaganda organ The Trace recently published a story under the headline, “Gun Violence Linked to Surprising Side-Effect: Poor Dental Health.”

This is particularly intriguing, because anybody who has seen an old cowboy movie knows that moments before “gun violence” breaks out, one of the combatants is often prone to tell the other, “Smile when you say that.”

Could it be that poor oral hygiene is indeed considered a provocation in these situations? Could that explain why those types of confrontations often ended badly on the frontier, where dental care was scarce and usually dispensed with whiskey and large pliers?

The Trace article does lend some support to that hypothesis, continuing, “In communities with the highest rates of gun violence, residents are less likely to receive dental care.”

It also notes (perhaps unnecessarily): “The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine in April, is the first of its kind to examine the connection between oral health and firearm exposure.”

What else could possibly explain this connection?

Fortunately, the researchers had an answer for that: “a pervasive sense of fear, chronic stress, and social and economic disruption brought on by firearm violence could potentially contribute to adverse health behaviors,” including “poor oral health.”

In other words, certain folks might be so demoralized by the presence of guns in society that they can’t bring themselves to brush or floss. (We would only ask how this conclusion squares with the infamously poor dental health of Great Britain, where private ownership of firearms has largely been eliminated. Perhaps they should study a possible link with Ninja Swords.)

The Trace also reports that this work of scientific genius was the product of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers University.

We had noted, during the Biden-Harris regime, that the administration was directing anti-gun states to follow its lead with the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention and establish similar efforts with the taxpayer dollars of their states.

Sadly for projects like this, The Trace article laments that the New Jersey center is now “is at risk of steep budget cuts as funding for gun violence prevention has come under threat at both the state and federal levels.”

And you have to wonder why, when those researchers are busy connecting dots like these, as crime involved individuals on the streets who are already legally prohibited from possessing guns are nonetheless killing each other over things like social media disses.

Wouldn’t it be better, if you were worried about the well-being of these communities, to focus – as McGruff the Crime Dog said –  on taking a bite out of crime?

Not according to the scientists in New Jersey, who have a different prescription. They suggest: “integrating oral care into gun violence prevention organizations could be essential in mitigating the risks of both gun violence and lack of dental care.”

Normally, NRA-ILA does not take a position on dentistry related issues.

But, if gun control organizations wanted to divert more of their resources to improving oral healthcare in distressed communities (and less to taking away everybody else’s guns), we would certainly consider that a positive development.

Either way, as this hard-hitting expose shows, taxpayers at any level of government should not have to shoulder the cost for this sort of dubious scientific exploration into “gun violence.”

This time, we can thank The Trace and the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center for reminding us (and hopefully DOGE and DOJ’s Second Amendment Task Force) of that point yet again.

TRENDING NOW
U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

U.S. Court of Appeals Backtracks on Adverse Suppressor Ruling

In a single sentence, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit added to the high-profile and consequential national conversation on firearm suppressors.

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

News  

Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

Friday, June 20, 2025

Minnesota: Shotgun-Only Hunting Zones Repealed

On Monday, June 9th, outside of regular session, the Senate passed the Environment Omnibus bill, removing shotgun-only hunting zones in the state. 

Switched Off: A Case Study on Minnesota’s Illegal Machine Gun Law

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

Switched Off: A Case Study on Minnesota’s Illegal Machine Gun Law

There’s been a lot of noise of late about auto sears or so-called “Glock switches” – devices to convert a semiautomatic firearm into an automatic weapon. 

2A News Out of New Jersey You Won’t Believe: It’s Actually a Good Thing!

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

2A News Out of New Jersey You Won’t Believe: It’s Actually a Good Thing!

The Garden State is not where most seek positive developments regarding our right to arms, so we were pleasantly surprised when Englishtown, N.J., recently made a move to support the Second Amendment.

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

North Carolina: Update on Gun Bills Moving through the General Assembly

Recently, House Bill 193 (H193) was reported favorably out of both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Rules Committee, with amendments.

Update: Washington Post Fact Checks Misleading Ad Council “Children” and Firearms Talking Point

News  

Monday, June 23, 2025

Update: Washington Post Fact Checks Misleading Ad Council “Children” and Firearms Talking Point

Last week, NRA-ILA explained how a recent public service announcement campaign from the federally-funded Ad Council, and the gun control lobby more broadly, manipulates statistics to create misleading talking points about “children” and firearms.

DOJ Files Amicus Brief Supporting NRA-Backed Challenge to IL’s Ban on “Assault Weapons” and “Large-Capacity Magazines”

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

DOJ Files Amicus Brief Supporting NRA-Backed Challenge to IL’s Ban on “Assault Weapons” and “Large-Capacity Magazines”

Last Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief in the Seventh Circuit supporting an NRA-backed challenge to Illinois’s prohibition on so-called “assault weapons” and “large-capacity magazines.”

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Friday, June 20, 2025

Ninth Circuit Strikes Down CA’s One-Gun-A-Month Law

Today, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that California’s law prohibiting people from buying more than one firearm in a 30-day period violates the Second Amendment.

Intrepid Journalist Tracks Down Truth About “Children” and Firearms, While Public Health Researchers Downplay Inconvenient Realities

News  

Monday, June 16, 2025

Intrepid Journalist Tracks Down Truth About “Children” and Firearms, While Public Health Researchers Downplay Inconvenient Realities

For decades, gun control advocates and their allies in “public health” have pushed a misleading factoid about children and firearms.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.