The AAMC and the four other members of the Gun Violence Prevention Research Roundtable Steering Committee sent a Feb. 7 letter encouraging leaders of the House Appropriations Committee to continue supporting federal investments in firearm safety and violence prevention in the 118th Congress.
The letter described the bipartisan support for such research through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and outlines ongoing research needs associated to firearm-related morbidity and mortality nationwide.
“Rigorous prevention research that can accurately quantify and describe the roots of gun violence, inform strategies for responsible gun owners to avoid preventable injuries and deaths, and identify non-partisan opportunities for reducing the related morbidity and mortality is the foundation” of an evidence-based approach to reducing preventable injuries and deaths, the authors noted.
“CDC and NIH continue to receive many more high-quality proposals than they are able to fund,” the letter stated, “and additional funding can generate research into important questions, such as the most effective methods to prevent firearm-related suicides among veterans; the best ways to prevent unintended injuries and fatalities among women and children; how to reduce firearm-related violent crime; and numerous other vital public health and crime prevention questions.”
The final fiscal year 2023 spending bill provided $12.5 million each to the CDC and the NIH for such research, marking the fourth consecutive year of such funding, and $1 million to the NIJ for the first time [refer to Washington Highlights, Jan. 4].