Giffords Applauds House Appropriations Committee for Bold Investments in Public Health, Public Safety, and Gun Violence Prevention

June 30, 2022

Washington, DC — Giffords, the gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, applauds the House Appropriations Committee for approving the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) and Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Fiscal Year 2023 funding bills and prioritizing efforts to prevent gun violence.

Nico Bocour, Giffords Government Affairs Director:

“We applaud the House Appropriations Committee’s robust investment in programs across the federal government to address gun violence. Gun violence rates are spiking at unprecedented rates. By properly funding existing programs to both combat violent crime and invest in programs designed to support communities to prevent violence, the Committee made their commitment to public safety clear. Additionally, their investment in public health programs focused on preventing violence and aiding survivors shows the Committee’s continued leadership on recognizing gun violence as a public health crisis. We thank Chairwoman DeLauro and Chairman Cartwright for their leadership and dedication to addressing gun violence.”

The FY23 CJS bill increases critical funding for the FBI, ATF, the Office of Justice Programs, and the Office of Violence Against Women and includes a tripling of funding for the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, which assists local communities in developing comprehensive, evidence-based violence prevention and reduction programs. The legislation also includes grants to incentivize states to implement extreme risk protection laws and critical funding to support ATF’s ability to enforce federal gun laws.

The FY23 LHHS bill increases the investment in gun violence research within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and includes nearly $85 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. The bill also includes increased funding for suicide prevention programs.

Funding levels in the FY23 CJS bill for initiatives and programs to improve gun safety include:

$150 million for the Community Violence Prevention and Intervention Initiative within the Department of Justice, tripling the investment from FY22.
$110 million for grants to states to upgrade criminal and mental health records for the NICS background check system, including $25 million for the NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP).
$40 million to establish the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Initiative, which will aid states develop and implement ERPO laws.
An increase of more than $200 million for the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives (ATF), which would enable ATF to enhance their firearms tracing program, more quickly process National Firearms applications, expand implementation of the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, as well as increase the number of ATF’s industry operations investigators who would be able to prioritize the investigation of gun thefts from licensed firearms dealers. The funding will also aid in ATF’s trafficking and violent gun crime reduction efforts, as well as address ghost guns.
$65 million for the Office of Violence Against Women’s grant program that aids in the investigation of domestic violence and enforcement of protective orders, of which $4 million is for a homicide reduction initiative and up to $4 million of which is for the domestic violence firearms lethality reduction initiative.

Funding levels in the FY23 LHHS bill for initiatives and programs to address the public health crisis of gun violence include:

$60 million for firearm injury and mortality prevention research, with $35 million for the CDC program and $25 million for the NIH program, more than doubling the investment from FY22.
Nearly $85 million for a new Community Violence Intervention Initiative based within the CDC’s Community and Youth Violence Prevention program, which would fund a broad range of evidence-based community violence interventions aimed at preventing intentional violence.
$50 million for a new Community Violence pilot program within SAMHSA to provide and expand mental health services for families affected by community violence, with intent being to provide resources to communities, particularly Black and brown communities, reserve support in the aftermath of fatal community violence.
$34.5 million for the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). 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, including increased funding for Resilience in Communities after Stress and Trauma (ReCAST) grants. These grants are aimed at supporting youth mental health, with the goal of promoting the healthy development of school-aged youth and preventing youth violence.

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