Sen. Ed Markey has introduced a bill that would give $10 million a year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fund research on gun violence prevention and firearms safety.
The proposal by the Massachusetts Democrat was also introduced in the House by New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney and would be effective from 2015 for six years.
"It is time we study the issue of gun violence like the public health crisis it is. If we want to prevent injury and deaths from guns, we need to know what can be done to prevent it," Markey said in a statement, according to the Massachusetts news outlet
Mass Live. "No one should be afraid of more nonpartisan, scientific research of this issue – not Democrats, not Republicans, and not the NRA."
The measure would take forward an executive order for gun violence research signed by President Barack Obama in March, which requires congressional approval to secure the funding.
Following the December 2012 school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, there was a renewed push for gun-control legislation, but reform efforts have stalled.
Republicans and the NRA, which oppose new gun-control measures, have argued in part that there is a lack of research-based evidence to prove whether new laws would reduce gun-related violence.
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