House Prioritizes Public Health Approaches to Address Gun Violence in FY22 Minibus

Washington, DC — Giffords, the gun safety organization led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, lauds the House of Representatives for passing a minibus including the  Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Fiscal Year 2022 funding and significant investments to address the public health crisis of gun violence. 

In addition to doubling the investment in gun violence research within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the House also approved a historic $100 million to establish a new community violence intervention initiative within the CDC. Federal funding for evidence-informed and community-based strategies, including hospital-based interventions, will allow more communities to address gun violence through public health approaches. 

Adzi Vokhiwa, Giffords Federal Affairs Director:

“The House today continues to build on its record of prioritizing gun violence prevention efforts by investing in our nation’s public health infrastructure. At a time when gun violence continues to plague communities around the countryーparticularly communities of color that have also been hardest hit by COVID-19ーthese dollars will help to reverse dangerous increases in violence. We are grateful to Speaker Pelosi and Chairwoman DeLauro for their leadership and unfaltering commitment to fight for the public safety of our nation.” 

Funding levels in the FY22 LHHS bill for initiatives and programs to address the public health crisis of gun violence include:

• $50 million for firearm injury and mortality prevention research, split evenly between the CDC and NIH, doubling the federal funding provided by Congress in FY21
• $100 million for a new Community Violence Intervention Initiative based within the CDC, which would fund a broad range of evidence-based community violence interventions
• $34.5 million for the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS), an increase of $10 million from FY21.  NVDRS is the most comprehensive database for violent death-related data within the U.S., which helps inform our approaches to violence prevention
• Increased funding for Suicide Prevention Programs, including more funding for the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and the Zero Suicide program, which we hope will help address the issue of firearm suicides given that people are at least 40 times more likely to die by gun suicide than any other common method to end one’s life
• Increased funding for Project AWARE grants, which assist high-risk youth and families and promote resilience and equity in communities that have recently faced civil unrest, including police violence