Washington (June 20, 2019) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-12) lead sponsors of the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act, released the following joint statement after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a spending bill that includes $50 million for gun violence research. This is the first time the House of Representatives has approved federal funding for the study of gun violence since an appropriations rider called the Dickey amendment was put on the books in 1996. The spending package must still pass in the Senate and get the support of the White House. Senator Markey and Rep. Maloney’s Gun Violence Prevention Research Act would fund research at the CDC on firearms safety and gun violence prevention at $50 million per year for Fiscal Years 2020-2025.

“Gun violence in the United States is a public health epidemic, and we must respond with the resources necessary to stop this scourge,” said Senator Markey and Rep. Maloney. “We applaud the House passage of a spending bill that includes $50 million for gun violence prevention research. Researching and studying gun violence is the first step in addressing an epidemic that takes 100 lives a day. We urge the Senate to follow the House’s leadership, and maintain this important provision in its spending bill that would help prevent tragedies as a result of preventable gun violence.”

In 2018, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar testified that the Dickey Amendment does not prevent the CDC from conducting research into gun violence prevention, and report language accompanying the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus appropriations legislation similarly made this clarification.

Gun safety groups and health organizations endorsing the legislation include: Brady Campaign, Everytown for Gun Safety, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Sandy Hook Promise, March For Our Lives, Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, NoRA, Stop Handgun Violence, Arizonans for Gun Safety, Survivors Lead, Child Firearm Safety Alliance, Safe Tennessee Project, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence Education Fund, Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, CeaseFire Pennsylvania, WAVE Educational Fund, Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, Ceasefire Oregon, Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, Georgians for Gun Safety, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, Iowans for Gun Safety, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Family Physicians, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, AASA, The School Superintendents Association, and Futures Without Violence.

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