Senate Joint Resolution No. 20

Introduced by Senator Hall

January 15, 2016

Senate Joint Resolution No. 20—Relative to gun violence.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SJR 20, as introduced, Hall. Gun violence: research.

This measure would urge the Congress of the United States to lift an existing prohibition against publicly funded scientific research on the causes of gun violence and its effects on public health, and to appropriate funds for the purpose of conducting that research.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, Every day, gun violence destroys lives, families,
and communities; and

WHEREAS, From 2002 to 2013, inclusive, California lost
38,576 individuals to gun violence, of which 2,258 were children;
and

WHEREAS, In 2013 alone, guns were used to kill 2,900
Californians, including 251 children and teenagers, and hospitalized
another 6,035 Californians for nonfatal gunshot wounds, including
1,275 children and teenagers; and

WHEREAS, There were over 350 recorded mass shootings in
the United States in 2015; and

WHEREAS, Since 1996, Congress has adopted annual policy
riders, known as the “Dickey Amendment” and “Rehberg
Amendment,” that effectively prohibit the federal Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other agencies under
the federal Department of Health and Human Services from
conducting publicly funded scientific research on the causes of
gun violence or its effects on public health; and

WHEREAS, The author of the original Dickey Amendment,
former Representative Jay Dickey (R-AR), has stated repeatedly
that he regrets offering the amendment and thinks it should be
repealed; and

WHEREAS, Despite Representative Dickey’s comments and
President Obama’s executive action in 2013 directing the CDC to
resume gun violence research, Congress has provided no funding,
and the restrictive language remains in place; and

WHEREAS, Since 1996, the federal government has spent $240
million per year on traffic safety research, which has saved 360,000
lives since 1970; and

WHEREAS, During the same period there has been almost no
publicly funded research on gun violence, which kills the same
number of people every year; and

WHEREAS, Recently, 110 Members of the Congress of the
United States signed a letter urging the leadership of the House of
Representatives to end the longstanding ban on federal funding
for gun violence research, and over 2,000 doctors in all 50 states
plus the District of Columbia did the same; and

WHEREAS, Although Members of Congress may disagree
about how best to respond to the problem of gun violence, we
should be able to agree that a response should be informed by
sound scientific evidence; and

WHEREAS, Whether it is horrific headline-generating massacres
or unseen violence that occurs every day -- the innocent child
gunned down in crossfire, the mother murdered during a domestic
dispute, or the young life cut tragically short during the heat of a
petty argument -- the call to action is now clear; now, therefore,
be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of
California, jointly, That a comprehensive evidence-based federal
approach to reducing and preventing gun violence is needed to
ensure that our communities are safe from gun violence; and be it
further

Resolved, That federal research is crucial to saving lives, having
driven policy to save lives from motor vehicle accidents, sudden
infant death syndrome, lead poisoning, and countless other public
health crises; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature urges the Congress of the United
States to promptly lift the prohibition against publicly funded
scientific research on the causes of gun violence and its effects on
public health, and to appropriate funds to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and other relevant agencies under the
Department of Health and Human Services to conduct that research;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States, and to the
author for appropriate distribution.