Firearm-related deaths in Missouri increased by 56.4% over the past decade, according to a state report released last fall.

In 2018, the report showed 726 suicides and 557 homicides involved firearms — making up 68% of all suicide and homicide deaths, up from 61% in 2008.

“The effect of gun violence on our region’s overall health and well-being has been truly devastating,” Missouri Foundation for Health president Robert Hughes said in a statement. “Not only will this work enable the Foundation’s future efforts to be more effective, it will also serve as a resource to other organizations in Missouri and nationwide as they strive for greater impact against this epidemic.”

Gun violence research has been chronically underfunded since passage of the 1996 Dickey Amendment, which barred using federal money for research that may be used to advocate for gun control. That year, Congress also cut $2.6 million from the CDC’s research budget — the exact amount that had been allocated for firearm research — which federal agencies took as a chilling message.