The federal funding bill approved this week by Congress designates $25 million for gun violence research.

ABC News reports the funding bill splits the money between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), providing $12.5 for each.

Gun control Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) was thrilled with the designation of funding for the study of gun violence:

For over 20 years, the NRA blocked us from studying gun violence. Today, that all changed. I just walked off the Senate floor where I voted for a budget that includes $25 million to research this epidemic. This is a testament to the strength of our movement. pic.twitter.com/DBHcGQQ8A1 — Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) December 19, 2019

The Los Angeles Times reports Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) suggesting the allocated money allows federal funding to be used to research “a public health emergency,” with a view toward laws and regulations that better control firearms.

She said, “The funding for evidence-based research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health will help us better understand the correlation between domestic violence and gun violence, how Americans can more safely store guns, and how we can intervene to reduce suicide by firearms.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.