Democrats failed Wednesday to add an amendment enabling federal research of gun violence into a House appropriations bill.
The House Appropriations Committee voted 31-18 to not include an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have enabled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct gun violence research, which would have reversed a decades-long ban.
Republicans have long opposed reversing the ban, with some saying Wednesday that research into gun violence could infringe on constitutional rights.
“I think funding this would be a grave mistake,” said Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va. “It would be used improperly to deny our Second Amendment rights.”
The committee’s Democrats said the American Medical Association has called gun violence a public health crisis. They added that the CDC performs research on other health issues such as suicide prevention, mental health and auto accidents.
“We need to listen to the experts, treat this like any other public health crisis,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who offered the amendment.
DeLauro said her amendment wouldn’t add any new money to the bill, which provides funding for the CDC and other health agencies.
“CDC can make room to conduct this research,” she said.
But Republicans pushed back at the idea of the CDC doing such research and the characterization of gun violence as a health issue instead of a crime issue.
“Gun violence is a crime, not a disease,” said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md. Such research “doesn’t belong in the CDC, especially when there are advocates for gun control in control of that money.”
In 1996, former Rep. Jay Dickey included the original measure that banned the CDC from funding any gun violence research projects.
However, in 2009 President Obama issued an executive order that allowed the agency to research gun violence. The agency has remained skittish, though, especially as congressional appropriators have included the Dickey amendment in appropriations bills.
