Congress allocated $25 million for “gun violence research” recently. This marks the first time in 20 years the federal government will fund such a study. The money will be split evenly between the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
CDC Gun Violence Research
“Given violence and suicide have a number of causes, the agreement recommends the CDC take a comprehensive approach to studying these underlying causes and evidence-based methods of prevention of injury, including crime prevention,” the bill claims.
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The money fell short of the $50 million passed by the Democratic-held House in June, according to abcnews.go.com. Nevertheless, Dr. Mark Rosenberg, previously with the CDC, called the funding historic.
“It’s the biggest amount that the federal government has ever put into federal firearms research,” Rosenberg said, according to abcnews.go.com. “It signals an end to the drought of knowledge about preventing this significant problem.”
Previously, the Dicky Amendment, passed by Congress in 1996, stipulates no government “funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.”
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In an era with increased calls for gun control, this research money should raise eyebrows for 2A supporters. Only time will tell how the NIH and CDC gun violence research paints gun ownership in the future.
