Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) cosponsored legislation introduced by Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) to address gun violence as a public health issue. The bill designates $10 million in funding each year at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to conduct or support research on firearms safety or gun violence prevention.
“Understanding the nature of gun violence as well as the most effective methods to reduce gun injuries and deaths is essential to implementing smart gun safety measures. This legislation makes strong investments in life-saving research to address one of our nation’s greatest challenges. I urge my colleagues to support this bill and help us prevent the senseless loss of thousands of American lives each year.”
BACKGROUND
This legislation was also cosponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Udall (D-N.M.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).
Senator Cortez Masto also cosponsored Markey’s bill in the last Congress and cosigned his letter to Senate appropriators requesting $50 million dollars for gun violence research at the CDC. In 2017, the senator urged the National Institutes of Health to renew its lapsed gun violence research program.
Gun violence is a leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 30,000 people each year. Yet, funding for research on gun violence lags far behind other public health concerns.