As physicians, we are outraged that this Nation continues to lose innocent lives from daily gun violence. Despite Sandy Hook and the continued tragedies since then, more than 89 Americans continue to die every day from gun violence.
You would be shocked to know that nearly 20 years ago Congress, under intense pressure from the gun lobby, passed a law blocking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) from carrying out the necessary research to better understand how to prevent gun violence.
Most recently, in June 2015, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to maintain this funding ban. The result: a significant source of funding for evidence-based, scientific research into the causes of gun violence was blocked entirely, and a signal was sent to the entire scientific funding community that chilled almost all other outside research into this critical issue.
It’s time to end the ban on CDC and NIH research so we can find solutions to the gun violence crisis.
Federal scientific data has driven policy to save lives from motor vehicle accidents, sudden infant death syndrome, lead poisoning, and countless other public health crises. It’s time to do the same with gun violence.
Add your name to #EndTheBan on gun violence research.
Physicians must stand together to tell Congress to remove these barriers to common sense evidence-based research and include funding annually to look into the causes of gun violence. I hope you will join us.
Physicians must stand together to tell Congress to remove these barriers to common sense evidence-based research and include funding annually to look into the causes of gun violence. I hope you will join us.
For a safer Nation,
Nina Agrawal, MD
David Berman, DO
Drs. Agrawal and Berman are pediatricians and leaders of the DFA gun violence prevention campaign.