For two decades, Congress has effectively blocked federal money from being used for basic research on gun violence and its effect on public health. All efforts to lift this restriction have been repeatedly rejected by Republicans who seem to believe that the less people know about gun violence and how to prevent it, the better.

California lawmakers, faced with this failure by the federal government, are moving ahead to finance public research on their own. The Legislature voted last Thursday to allocate $5 million for a new center devoted to gun violence research. The center, which will be located on a University of California campus to be chosen by university officials, will study gun crime with an eye toward helping legislators develop policies to reduce it.

The measure, first proposed by State Senator Lois Wolk, is included in a budget bill, which Gov. Jerry Brown is expected to sign.

Because of restrictions on federal funding, little is known about the effectiveness of many violence prevention efforts, or about risk factors for committing gun violence. Some states lack even basic data, like an accurate count of how many residents have guns.