BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SJR 20
Page A
of Hearing: June 21, 2016
Counsel: Gabriel Caswell
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr., Chair
SJR
20 (Hall) - As Amended March 28, 2016
SUMMARY: 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.
Specifically, this bill:
1)States the following:
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a) Every day, gun violence destroys lives, families, and
communities;
b) From 2002 to 2013, inclusive, California lost 38,576
individuals to gun violence, of which 2,258 were children;
c) 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;
d) There were over 350 recorded mass shootings in the
United States in 2015;
e) 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;
f) 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be repealed;
g) 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;
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h) Since 1996, the federal government has spent $240
million per year on traffic safety research, which has
saved 360,000 lives since 1970;
i) During the same period there has been almost no publicly
funded research on gun violence, which kills the same
number of people every year;
j) 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;
aa) 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,
bb) 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.
2)Resolves by the Senate and Assembly of the State of California
jointly:
a) That a comprehensive evidence-based federal approach to
reducing and preventing gun violence is needed to ensure
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that our communities are safe from gun violence;
b) 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;
c) 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,
d) 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.
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW: Eliminates $2.6 million from the Center
for Disease Control Budget, reflecting the amount the CDC had
previously spent on gun research in an annual rider bill known
as the "Dickey Amendment." <1>
EXISTING STATE LAW:
---------------------------
<1>
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ208/pdf/PLAW-104publ208.pdf
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1)Generally regulates the use, possession and sale of deadly
weapons in California. (Pen. Code § 16000, et. seq.)
2)Contains legislative findings and declarations that the
proliferation and use of assault and .50 BMG rifles poses a
threat to the health, safety, and security of all citizens of
California. (Pen. Code § 30505.)
FISCAL EFFECT:
COMMENTS:
1)Author's Statement: "Every day, gun violence destroys lives,
families and communities. From 2002 to 2013, California lost
38,576 individuals to gun violence. In 2013 alone, guns were
used to kill 2,900 Californians, including 251 children and
teens. That year, at least 6,035 others were hospitalized or
treated in emergency rooms for non-fatal gunshot wounds,
including 1,275 children and teens.
"Since 1996, and in spite of these staggering numbers, the
United States Congress has continually adopted annual policy
riders known as the 'Dickey Amendment' and 'Rehberg
Amendment.' These riders have effectively prohibited the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other
agencies, from conducting publicly funded scientific research
on the causes of gun violence or its effects on public health.
"During the same period, the federal government has spent $240
million a year on traffic safety research which kills the same
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number of people as gun violence every year. This lack of
research has made it more difficult to objectively assess the
public health impacts of gun violence and find ways to reduce
the number of innocent lives lost every year.
"A comprehensive evidence-based federal approach to reducing
and preventing gun violence is needed to ensure that our
communities are safe. Federal research is crucial to saving
lives from motor vehicle accidents, sudden infant death
syndrome, lead poisoning and countless other public crises. It
is time for Congress to publicly fund this important research,
and treat gun violence as the public health crisis that it
is."
2)State Budget Funding for Gun Violence Research: The
California Legislature approved funding to create a California
Firearm Violence Research Center for $5 million over the
course of five years. The money is included in the state
budget, which is awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown's signature.
3)Dickey Amendment: In 1993, the New England Journal of
Medicine (NEJM) published an article by Arthur Kellerman and
colleagues, " Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in
the home ," which presented the results of research funded by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The
study found that keeping a gun in the home was strongly and
independently associated with an increased risk of homicide.
The article concluded that rather than confer protection, guns
kept in the home are associated with an increase in the risk
of homicide by a family member or intimate acquaintance.
Kellerman was affiliated at the time with the department of
internal medicine at the University of Tennessee. He went on
to positions at Emory University, and he currently holds the
Paul O'Neill Alcoa Chair in Policy Analysis at the RAND
Corporation.
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The 1993 NEJM article received considerable media attention,
and the National Rifle Association (NRA) responded by
campaigning for the elimination of the center that had funded
the study, the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention.
The center itself survived, but Congress included language in
the 1996 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Bill (PDF, 2.4MB)
for Fiscal Year 1997 that "none of the funds made available
for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun
control." Referred to as the Dickey amendment after its
author, former U.S. House Representative Jay Dickey (R-AR),
this language did not explicitly ban research on gun violence.
However, Congress also took $2.6 million from the CDC's budget
- the amount the CDC had invested in firearm injury research
the previous year - and earmarked the funds for prevention of
traumatic brain injury. Dr. Kellerman stated in a December
2012 article in the Journal of the American Medical
Association, "Precisely what was or was not permitted under
the clause was unclear. But no federal employee was willing to
risk his or her career or the agency's funding to find out.
Extramural support for firearm injury prevention research
quickly dried up."
In 2015, former Congressman Dickey came forward in an
interview with the Huffington Post and stated that he
regretted his Amendment. "I wish we had started the proper
research and kept it going all this time," Dickey, an Arkansas
Republican, told the Huffington Post in an interview. "I have
regrets."<2>
4)Effect of this Legislation: According to the American
Psychological Association:
---------------------------
<2>
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jay-dickey-gun-violence-resea
rch-amendment_us_561333d7e4b022a4ce5f45bf
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In 1993, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)
published an article by Arthur Kellerman and colleagues,
" Gun ownership as a risk factor for homicide in the home ,"
which presented the results of research funded by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study
found that keeping a gun in the home was strongly and
independently associated with an increased risk of
homicide. The article concluded that rather than confer
protection, guns kept in the home are associated with an
increase in the risk of homicide by a family member or
intimate acquaintance. . .
The 1993 NEJM article received considerable media
attention, and the National Rifle Association (NRA)
responded by campaigning for the elimination of the center
that had funded the study, the CDC's National Center for
Injury Prevention. The center itself survived, but Congress
included language in the 1996 Omnibus Consolidated
Appropriations Bill . . . for Fiscal Year 1997 that "none
of the funds made available for injury prevention and
control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
may be used to advocate or promote gun control." Referred
to as the Dickey amendment after its author, former U.S.
House Representative Jay Dickey (R-AR), this language did
not explicitly ban research on gun violence. However,
Congress also took $2.6 million from the CDC's budget - the
amount the CDC had invested in firearm injury research the
previous year - and earmarked the funds for prevention of
traumatic brain injury.
(Christine Jamieson, Gun violence research: History of the
federal funding freeze, American Psychological Association,
February 2013,
http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence.aspx.
)
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This resolution 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.
5)Argument in Support: According to The California Chapters of
the Brady Campaign, "Basic research is an essential element in
formulating and carrying out good public policy. Although the
limited research that has been conducted to date is promising,
large sample sizes are needed to draw robust conclusions.
Such research has been inhibited by the lack of federal
funding and lack of access to federal data. 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.
"SJR 20 urges Congress to 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 agencies to conduct that research. The fact that
Congress has renewed this prohibition for twenty years is a
national embarrassment and should be terminated immediately.
The prohibition was initially put in place because the gun
lobby feared the outcomes. Research must resume so that we
can address the scourge of gun violence that is gripping our
nation."
6)Argument in Opposition: According to Safari Club
International, "The subject matter of illegal violent use of
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firearms has already been studied extensively in past years by
many researchers throughout the country.
"The general consensus appears to be that violence involving
the possession and/or use of firearms is mostly committed by
criminals and the mentally impaired, some as the result of
both the legal and illegal use of mind altering substances.
There are societal issues identified as well such as poverty,
hatred, and disregard for law and order. It has also been
found that there is some failure to adequately enforce
existing laws.
"SCI does not believe that establishing another federal
research program funded by taxpayers would accomplish anything
new of significance.
"The problems are well known; it is the solutions that are at
issue. Past experience has shown that firearms research often
results in more proposals to restrict the possession and use
of firearms by hunters and other lawful individuals, but
little that results in preventing the illegal possession
and/or use of firearms by criminals or the mentally impaired."
7)Related Legislation: SB 1006 (Wolk) requests the Regents of
the University of California (UC) establish a Firearm Violence
Research Center (Center) and administer the Center and a grant
program pursuant to, and consistent with, specified principles
and goals. SB 1006 is being held because the legislature
appropriated $5 million dollars for gun violence research in
the budget.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
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Support
American Academy of Pediatrics
American College of Emergency Physicians, California Chapter
Americans for Solutions
Bend the Arc
Brotherhood Crusade
California Black Health Network
California Chapters of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence
California Children's Hospital Association
California Communities United Institute
California Police Chiefs Association
California School Boards Association
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California State Conference of the NAACP
California State Sheriffs' Association
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
City of Long Beach
Coalition Against Gun Violence
Community Clinic Association
Courage Campaign
Doctors for America
Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles
Health Officers Association of California
International Health & Epidermiology Research Center
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Los Angeles City Attorney
Nevada County Democrats
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Peace Over Violence
Physicians for Social Responsibility, San Francisco Bay Area
Chapter
Rainbow Services
Violence Prevention Coalition
Youth Alive
2 private individuals
Opposition
California Sportsman's Lobby
Gun Owners of California
Outdoor Sportsmen's Coalition of California
Safari Club International
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Analysis Prepared by:Gabriel Caswell / PUB. S. / (916)
319-3744