WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03) sent a letter to the directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) demanding a status report on the progress of taxpayer-funded research on gun violence, as well as an estimate for when that research will yield actionable recommendations for policymakers. Phillips’s letter comes after the recent tragic shootings in Colorado and Georgia along with House passage of bipartisan legislation to strengthen background checks and keep communities safe.
Phillips also recently co-sponsored the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act, which authorizes $250 million in funding to the CDC to study gun violence over the next five years. In 2018, Congress authorized $50 million to fund gun violence research at the CDC and NIH, but experts say that additional funding is sorely needed to complete that research and identify life-saving solutions to America’s gun violence epidemic.
“America can confront any challenge when we band together in common purpose and with a common goal,” Phillips wrote. “When we wanted to reduce the alarming number of fatal motor vehicle accidents, we did it. When we wanted to reduce smoking-related illnesses and deaths, we did it. And we believe all Americans – no matter their political affiliation or interpretations of the Second Amendment – want to see fewer people killed by guns in this country. We can do that, too.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 43,000 Americans were killed by firearms last year, making 2020 the worst year for gun violence this century.