{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/on-5th-anniversary-of-sandy-hook-shooting-reed-aims-to-end-federal-ban-on-gun-violence-research", "On 5th Anniversary of Sandy Hook Shooting, Reed Aims to End Federal Ban on Gun Violence Research", "2017-12-14", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "RI", "Jack Reed", "R000122", "www.reed.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "12/14/2017\u00a0\u2014\u00a0WASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Today marks the five-year anniversary of the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.\u00a0 Five years after this unspeakable tragedy, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is urging Congress to take action to prevent gun violence and lift the ban on federal research into gun violence:\r\n\u201cToday, we remember the innocent victims we lost and those who tried to save them.\u00a0 Twenty bright, young kids should be sitting in their sixth grade classrooms today.\u00a0 But their lives were cut short by gun violence.\r\n\u201cWe as a nation must do more to prevent gun violence.\u00a0 Too many families have suffered tragic losses and hardships as a result of unnecessary gun deaths and injuries.\u00a0\r\n\u201cCongress must do more to help prevent these types of tragedies from recurring.\u00a0 We need bipartisan, commonsense action.\u00a0 I know many in Congress will not vote to impose universal background checks, or ban military-style assault weapons like the ones that have been used over and over again in mass-shootings.\u00a0 But I remain hopeful that my colleagues on the other side will at least join us in finally lifting the ban on federal research into gun violence.\u201d\r\nA 1996 rider to an Appropriations law prohibits federal funds from being used to advocate or promote gun control.\u00a0 The author of the original provision, former Congressman Jay Dickey (R-AR), who passed away earlier this year, changed his mind and supported funding U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gun violence research and stated that the rider should not stand in the way of researching the epidemic of gun violence: \u201cI wish we had started the proper research and kept it going all this time,\u201d Mr. Dickey said in an interview with the Huffington Post in 2015. \u201cI have regrets.\u201d\r\nSenator Reed has called on Congress to hold a hearing on funding gun violence research and provide dedicated funding for the CDC to gather data and conduct research into the causes and prevention of gun violence in the United States.\r\n\u201c\u2018You can\u2019t regulate evil\u2019 is a popular refrain from some who oppose commonsense gun control.\u00a0 You can\u2019t just surrender to it either \u2013 that is the fundamental purpose of all criminal law.\u00a0 If Republican leaders stop stonewalling a vote, we can study, learn, and develop effective strategies to reduce firearm-related deaths and prevent future mass-killings.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t be easier to buy an assault weapon than it is to get data from your government about how often these kinds of guns are used in mass-shootings.\u00a0 We need to reverse this restrictive law.\u00a0 It could and should be done on a bipartisan basis before the next anniversary of Sandy Hook or another mass-shooting.\u201d\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tPrint\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tEmail\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t  \n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tTweet", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/on-5th-anniversary-of-sandy-hook-shooting-reed-aims-to-end-federal-ban-on-gun-violence-research"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.496664248406887, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}