Sign the petition: The Senate must support gun violence research

the Senate

Gun violence is a public health epidemic, one that is killing an absurd and increasing number of people every year. Rather than tolerate shooting after shooting -- ignoring the toll of mass shootings, suicide, domestic violence, accidental deaths, interpersonal conflict, and more --we've got to figure out the root causes and research ways to prevent the next tragedy before it happens.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) researched gun violence in the 1980s and 1990s, but the National Rifle Association (NRA) bullied Congress into prohibiting any activities that “may be used to advocate or promote gun control”. This language, in what's known as the Dickey Amendment, was an effective ban on gun violence research.

Last year, Congress finally clarified that the CDC and NIH are ALLOWED to do gun violence research, yet without funding dedicated to this research, this clarification does little. The House has now allocated $50 million in the budget for gun safety, firearm injury, and mortality prevention research. We must demand the Senate act.

Nearly 40,000 Americans died from gun violence in 2018. There have been over 350 mass shootings in the U.S. in the past year -- nearly one per day -- and gun violence in all its forms collectively takes the lives of over 100 people per day.

The Senate must allow us to understand why, as the first step to ending this epidemic.

Sign the petition to demand the Senate include gun safety research in the budget NOW!

Participating Organizations:
Blue Future
Brady United Against Gun Violence
The Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus
Coalition on Human Needs
Corporate Accountability
CREDO
Daily Kos
Doctors for America
Million Hoodies Movement for Justice
Newton Action Alliance
People for the American Way
Progress America

To: the Senate
From: [Your Name]

Gun violence is a public health epidemic. We demand you ensure the budget includes at least $50 million for the CDC and NIH to research gun violence. To make our communities safer, we must understand the causes of gun violence so that we can better develop policies to reduce the toll that it takes.