鈥淐ongress prohibits the NIH from researching the cause of mass shootings.鈥
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in an April 21 post on X
The National Institutes of Health is the federal government鈥檚 main agency for supporting medical research. Is it barred from researching mass shootings? That鈥檚 what presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said recently.
Kennedy, whose statements about conspiracy theories earned him PolitiFact鈥檚 2023 鈥,鈥 is running as an independent third-party candidate against President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic candidate, and the presumptive Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump.
On April 21 , Kennedy flagged his recent interview with conservative commentator Glenn Beck, which touched on gun policy. Kennedy summarized his gun policy views in the post, writing, “The National Institutes of Health refuses to investigate the mystery; in fact, Congress prohibits the NIH from researching the cause of mass shootings. Under my administration, that rule ends 鈥 and our kids鈥 safety becomes a top priority.”
But this information is outdated.
In 1996, Congress passed the 鈥Dickey Amendment,鈥 an appropriations bill provision that federal officials widely interpreted as barring federally funded research related to gun violence (though some observers say this was a misinterpretation). Congress in 2018 clarified that the provision didn鈥檛 bar federally funded gun-related research, and funding for such efforts has been flowing since 2020.
Kennedy鈥檚 campaign did not provide evidence to support his statement.
What Was the Dickey Amendment?
After criticizing some federally funded research papers on firearms in the mid-1990s, pro-gun advocates, including the National Rifle Association, federal government funding for gun violence research.
In 1996, Congress approved appropriations bill language saying that “none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” The language was named for one of its backers, Rep. Jay Dickey (R-Ark).
But the Dickey Amendment, as written, did not ban all gun-related research outright.
“Any honest research that was not rigged to produce results that helped promote gun control could be funded by CDC,” said Gary Kleck, a Florida State University criminologist. But CDC officials, experts said, interpreted the Dickey Amendment as banning all gun-related research funding.
This perception meant the amendment “had a chilling effect on funding for gun research,” said Allen Rostron, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor who has . Federal agencies “did not want to take a chance on funding research that might be seen as violating the restriction” and so “essentially were not funding research on gun violence.”
Also, the Dickey Amendment targeted only the CDC, not all other federal agencies. Congress expanded the restriction to cover NIH-funded research in 2011.
Although the Dickey Amendment didn鈥檛 bar gun-related research, federal decision-makers acted as though it did by not pursuing such research.
Moving Past the Dickey Amendment
Over time, critics of the gun industry made an issue of the Dickey Amendment and gathered congressional support to clarify the amendment.
In 2018, lawmakers approved language that said the amendment wasn鈥檛 a blanket ban on federally funded gun violence research. By 2020, federal research grants on firearms began to be issued again, starting with $25 million to be split between the CDC and NIH.
By now, the CDC and a “” of firearm violence-related research, said Daniel Webster, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Also, the Justice Department鈥檚 National Institute of Justice the to date, Webster said, and is for studies of mass shootings.
Our Ruling
Kennedy said, “Congress prohibits the NIH from researching the cause of mass shootings.”
Although the Dickey Amendment, a provision of appropriations law supported by the gun industry, didn鈥檛 prohibit all federally supported, gun-related research from 1996 to 2018, decision-makers acted as though it did.
However, in 2018, Congress clarified the provision鈥檚 language. And since 2020, CDC, NIH, and other federal agencies have funded millions of dollars in gun-related research, including studies on mass shootings.
We rate Kennedy鈥檚 statement False.
Our Sources
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , April 21, 2024
National Institutes of Health, “,” Sept. 20, 2023
National Institute of Justice, “,” Feb. 3, 2022
National Institute of Justice, “,” Feb. 5, 2024
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “,” accessed April 22, 2024
American Psychological Association, “,” April 1, 2021
Allen Rostron, “” (American Journal of Public Health), July 2018
Email interview with Gary Kleck, a Florida State University criminologist, April 22, 2024
Email interview with Daniel W. Webster, professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, April 22, 2024
Email interview with Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, April 22, 2024
Email interview with Mike Lawlor, University of New Haven criminologist, April 22, 2024
Email interview with Allen Rostron, University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor, April 22, 2024
