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Today, the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Congressman Cedric L. Richmond (D-LA-02), sent a letter to President Trump and Republican caucus leaders urging them to fully restore the government’s ability to study gun violence and fully fund gun violence research by repealing the Dickey Amendment. In 1996, in response to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention study that found that gun ownership is associated with an increased risk of homicide in the home, Congress passed the Dickey Amendment which prohibits the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from using appropriated funds to “advocate or promote gun control.” In addition to preventing certain types of gun violence research and creating a chilling effect across federal research agencies, the amendment significantly decreased funding for this type of research.  

“At the time of this writing, there have been more mass shootings in the United States in 2017 than days, not to mention the tens of thousands of families that are impacted by gun violence every year,” Chairman Richmond wrote. “As Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, I urge you to put policy over politics and join me in an effort to restore the federal government’s ability to fully study the scope of gun violence in our country, particularly where it intersects with mental health. It is long past time to study gun violence as the public health epidemic that it so clearly is.”

Full text of the letter is attached and online. Additional excerpts from the letter are below. 

Opioid Abuse and Gun Violence 

“There are many factors that contribute to gun violence. Mental health, at least in part, plays a role in the increasing number of mass shootings we see in communities across the nation. I fully support the federal government’s response to the opioids epidemic as a public health crisis. However, every year, more people die from gun violence than opioid overdoses. For example, in 2015, 33,091 people died from prescription pain reliever and heroin overdoses, while 36,252 people died from guns. These families deserve every opportunity to prevent these tragedies in their communities as well.”

How Many More Mass Shootings

“How many more incidents like Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Charleston, Plano, Orlando, Newtown, Blacksburg, Columbine, San Bernardino, Fort Hood and others must occur before we concede that the status quo has left us with no other moral option but to affirmatively address the epidemic of gun violence head on? These are just some of the mass shootings that made national news in recent years. The victims of the mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs were lifting up their voices in prayer as they tragically lost their lives to gun violence. To properly honor their lives, we must do more than keep them in our thoughts and prayers. We must study the causes of gun violence, including any correlations between these incidents, gun possession, and mental health issues.”