Rep. Maloney, Sen. Markey applaud inclusion of funding for gun violence research

U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Sen. Edward Markey (D-MA) applauded the inclusion of $25 million in the 2021 budget federal gun violence prevention research.

It builds on $25 million in funding inlude3d in the budget last year for research on firearms safety and gun violence prevention. That marked the first time that Congress approved federal funding for the study of gun violence since 1996.

The research will be done at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Gun violence is a public health crisis that continues to destroy lives all across the country and has grown even worse during the coronavirus pandemic,” Maloney said. “For years, I have worked to pass legislation directing federal funding toward health research into gun violence. I am encouraged that the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations package once again includes this much-needed funding. This research can help save lives by proposing science-based solutions to end the gun violence epidemic.”

Maloney and Markey co-authored the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act, a 2019 bill to fund research on firearms safety and gun violence prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Despite the pandemic, gun violence is up in Massachusetts and around the country. We cannot accept that gun violence is pre-ordained when we can know it can be prevented,” Markey said. “This research funding is a critical step to understanding the causes of this scourge and putting an end to gun violence in our schools and neighborhoods. Research will help us create evidence-based solutions to this ongoing public health crisis.”