In one of the executive orders Barack Obama signed today regarding guns, the president authorized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to “research” gun violence.

“The Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary), through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other scientific agencieswithin the Department of Health and Human Services, shall conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violenceand the ways to prevent it,” reads part of an executive order signed today by Obama. “The Secretary shall begin byidentifying the most pressing research questions with thegreatest potential public health impact, and by assessingexisting public health interventions being implemented acrossthe Nation to prevent gun violence.”