California Example May Lead to Federal ‘Gun Research’ Funding

Although the Senate rejected gun control on Monday night, Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) believes the Orlando terror attack may have opened the door to money for “gun research” at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Murphy unsuccessfully pushed an expansion of background checks aimed at gun shows Monday night, while his Democrat colleagues pushed the inclusion of the terror watch list and the no-fly list for the National Instant Criminal Background Checks (NICS) prohibited buyers list.

However, the recent example of California, where last week the state legislature allocated $5 million for “firearm violence” research, could fuel political support.

According to BuzzFeed, Murphy believes funding for CDC may yet result, based on a statement from the American Medical Association (AMA), which was released after the Orlando terror attack.

That statement said in part:

In the wake of the worst mass shooting in American history and with more than 6,000 deaths already in 2016 from gun violence, the American Medical Association (AMA) today adopted policy calling gun violence in the United States “a public health crisis” requiring a comprehensive public health response and solution. Additionally, at the Annual Meeting of its House of Delegates, the AMA resolved to actively lobby Congress to overturn legislation that for 20 years has prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from researching gun violence.

The statement goes on to claim 30,000 deaths a year from gun violence, which is simply not accurate. Breitbart News has reported that the actual number of homicides by firearms is about 10,000-11,000 a year, and much of that is gang-related violence or street crime in gun control bastions like Baltimore and Chicago.

To reach a figure of 30,000 deaths due to gun violence, the AMA includes firearms-related suicides, which total 19,000-21,000 a year on average, and accidental gun deaths, which total 450-550 a year on average.

Senator Murphy is holding out hope that the AMA statement will sway Congress into more funding for CDC involvement in gun control.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.