How much latitude the CDC has to pursue gun violence research is hardly an academic argument. The CDC is the nation’s leading public health agency, with a yearly budget of more than $11 billion. The failure of the CDC to invest in studies of gun violence has greatly inhibited the ability of social scientists, law enforcement agencies, and policymakers to understand the scope and causes of shootings — while also limiting understanding of interventions that might save lives.

In the immediate aftermath of the Dickey Amendment, which was pushed through with support from the National Rifle Association, senior CDC officials interpreted five words — that federal funding could not be used to “advocate or promote gun control” — as meaning the agency should stop all related research. Agency officials worried that should the CDC continue with gun research, lawmakers might try to punish it by cutting funding for other priorities, such as motor vehicle safety, maternal health, and the control of infectious diseases. Their fear was not without merit. In 1997, the year after the bill was passed, Congress redirected all of the money previously earmarked for gun violence research to the study of traumatic brain injury.

The head of the CDC at the time was David Satcher, the first and only African American to hold the position. He was a vocal advocate for gun violence researchers at the Injury Center, defending their work in front of Congress and in an exhaustive editorial for the Washington Post. He fought to continue studies that were started before the amendment, along with some smaller initiatives. But by 1998, when Satcher left, the agency had almost completely shut down its gun violence research operation. Rosenberg was fired the next year.

The CDC also stopped issuing funding grants for external gun studies, which left many of the nation’s most well-regarded gun researchers suddenly scrounging for funding from private foundations, or financing out of pocket. The cumulative effect was to dramatically curb gun violence research in the U.S. Today, less than $5 million is spent each year on gun studies. A single HIV or cancer study can cost twice as much.

“I think even if you restored funding today, it would take years or decades to overcome the impact,” says Michael Nance, director of the Pediatric Trauma Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

More than a dozen public health insiders, including current and former CDC senior leaders, said in interviews with The Trace that they are frustrated by the agency’s failure to find ways to engage in substantive gun violence research. These insiders said they believe that the CDC’s interpretation of the Dickey Amendment is overly cautious — and that efforts could be greatly enhanced.

“Even without changing that amendment, the CDC could do a lot more in the area of firearms research,” says Michael Siegel, a public health scientist at Boston University.