Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today led a group of Democratic Senators and renowned national researchers in calling for immediate funding of a gun violence research agenda at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A 1996 Republican appropriations rider prohibits federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control, which some have misconstrued as a ban on funding scientific research into the causes of gun violence. The author of the original rider, former Representative Jay Dickey (R-Ark.) now supports funding CDC gun-violence research and has stated that the rider should not stand in the way. Earlier this month, Senator Markey and 17 senators called on Appropriations Committee leadership to hold a hearing on funding for gun violence research at the CDC. Senator Markey was joined by Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).