Should the Centers for Disease Control Spend $10 Million a Year Researching the Prevention of Gun Violence? (S. 834)

What is S. 834?

(Updated September 27, 2019)

This bill would authorize $10 million in annual funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention under the Public Health Service Act for fiscal years 2018-2023. Under current law there is a prohibition known as the Dickey Amendment on federal funds being used to advocate or promote gun control which has been interpreted as not allowing scientific research into the causes of gun violence.

Argument in favor

There’s no reason for the Centers for Disease Control to be prevented from researching gun violence, and $10 million per year is a reasonable amount.

Argument opposed

No federal funds should be used to promote gun control, and that’s what CDC research would ultimately go toward if this bill is enacted.

Impact

The CDC.

Cost of S. 834

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: When he introduced this bill to provide funding to the CDC for researching the causes and prevention of gun violence during the last session of Congress, sponsoring Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) and his fellow cosponsors wrote:

“We must take this important step because only the United States government is in a position to establish an integrated public-health research agenda to understand the causes of gun violence and identify the most effective strategies for prevention.”

This legislation has the support of 32 cosponsors in the Senate, all of whom caucus as Democrats.

Media:

• Sponsoring Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) Press Release (Previous Version)
  
• Boston Globe (Previous Version)
  
• Huffington Post (Previous Version)
  
• Morning Consult (Previous Version)