Washington (February 4, 2021) – As 2020 marked the deadliest year for gun violence in the last 20 years, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) today reintroduced the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act to fund research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on firearms safety and gun violence prevention. The legislation would authorize $50 million in funding each fiscal year for the next five years at the CDC to study gun violence. According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 43,495 people lost their lives due to gun violence in 2020 as firearms sales have surged during the coronavirus pandemic.  

 

“As gun violence and gun sales continue to rise during the coronavirus pandemic, now more than ever, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention needs robust funding for gun violence prevention research,” Senator Markey said. “Our legislation will make this funding permanent for the next five years, and help us to fully understand the causes of this scourge as we work to put an end to gun violence in Massachusetts and across the country. Research will help us create evidence-based solutions to this ongoing public health crisis and save thousands of lives every year.”

 

“With gun deaths and gun sales surging in 2020, we must act now to meaningfully combat gun violence. We know of the commonsense solutions like the need for better and more robust background checks and the need to renew the assault weapons ban, but we must also seek other solutions. And we do that by studying gun violence like the public health crisis it is,” said Congresswoman Maloney. “I am hopeful that the research that this bill funds will help us design evidence-based policy solutions to combat gun violence and prevent thousands of senseless deaths every year.”   

 

A copy of legislation can be found HERE.

 

In December 2019, Senator Markey and Rep. Maloney helped secure $25 million for gun violence research at the CDC in the year-end spending agreement, marking the first time Congress approved federal funding for the study of gun violence since an appropriations rider called the Dickey Amendment was put on the books in 1996. In December 2020, the lawmakers again applauded the inclusion for $25 million for CDC research in the 2021 Fiscal Year budget.

Gun safety groups endorsing the legislation include: Stop Hand Gun Violence, March for Our Lives, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, CeaseFire PA, North Carolinians Against Gun Violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence, Delaware Coalition Against Gun Violence, Women Against Gun Violence (CA), Arizonans for Gun Safety, Iowans for Gun Safety, Hoosiers Concerned About Gun Violence, Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, Colorado Ceasefire, Gun Sense NH, a project of Granite State Progress, Gun Violence Prevention Center of Utah, MOKS Grandparents Against Gun Violence, Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, Safe Tennessee Project, Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort Educational Fund, and Women Against Gun Violence.

 

"For decades, the fabrics of our communities have been frayed by the lack of federal investment in research and data collection on gun violence, despite its increasing prevalence, particularly among young people," said Max Markham, Policy Director at March for Our Lives. "The Gun Violence Prevention Research Act takes an important step in the right direction, and will allow this country to begin tackling gun violence in earnest as the public health crisis that it is. We thank Senator Markey for his leadership on this issue and urge Congress to appropriate this sorely needed funding for this epidemic."

 

“Gun violence is a public health epidemic and it requires a public health approach to end it,” said Zoe Grover, Executive Director of Stop Handgun Violence. “One of the key pillars of the public health approach is systematically collecting data, conducting research and analyzing the results. Without sustained funding of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, gun violence is likely to continue to increase, ripping families apart and destroying lives. We support Senator Markey and Congresswoman Maloney’s Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2021 and applaud them for their commitment to ending gun violence.”

 

"The pandemic has made America's gun violence epidemic even deadlier, and research into the causes of gun violence and the life-saving solutions has never been more necessary. We’re grateful to Senator Markey and Congresswoman Maloney for leading the charge to fund this critical research,” said John Feinblatt, President of Everytown for Gun Safety.

 

"Every day, families across the country are experiencing the devastating loss of loved ones to the national disease of gun violence," said Mark Barden, co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise and father of Daniel, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. "We thank Representative Maloney and Senator Markey for prioritizing federal funding for gun violence prevention research at the CDC so we can find the evidence-based solutions that will save lives."

 

“As the Executive Director of States United, and, as a gun violence survivor, I know that funding research for gun violence prevention will determine how we end gun violence in America,” said Clai Lasher-Sommers, Executive Director of States United to Prevent Gun Violence. “I know that this country is in a constant state of emergency due to Gun Violence in both urban and rural geographies.  Gun violence is a public health epidemic and needs to be centered within this framework. We are thankful to Senator Markey and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney for introducing the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act 2021.”

 

“The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the need for public health funding more so than ever before,” said Brady President Kris Brown. “This funding will help us best understand what can be done to reduce gun violence, and the policies and programs to prevent this public health epidemic that kills over 100 people a day. We need this funding and Brady thanks both Senator Markey and Chairwoman Maloney for leading on this important issue that affects all Americans.”

 

Senators co-sponsoring the legislation include: Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bob Casey (D-PA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ben Cardin (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Chris Coons (D-DE), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Carper (D-DE), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mark Warner (D-VA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Angus King (D-ME) and Gary Peters (D-MI).

House Members co-sponsoring the legislation include: Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Don Beyer (VA-08), Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Ed Case (HI-01), David Cicilline (RI-01), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Val Demings (FL-10), Ted Deutch (FL-22), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Bill Foster (IL-11), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-03), Jim Himes (CT-04), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Hank Johnson (GA-04), Mondaire Jones (NY-17), Dan Kildee (MI-05), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Alan Lowenthal (CA-47), Doris Matsui (CA-06), Jerry McNerney (CA-09), Joe Morelle (NY-25), Stephanie Murphy (FL-07), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40), John Sarbanes (MD-03), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Albio Sires (NJ-08), Chris Smith (NJ-04), Jackie Speier (CA-14), Thomas Suozzi (NY-03), Mark Takano (CA-41), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), John Yarmuth (KY-03).