Sponsors (4)
Introduced August 5, 2025 by Mark James Desaulnier · Last progress August 5, 2025
The bill funds a federal board and grants to strengthen firearm-violence research and community programs, improving evidence-based prevention while imposing modest new federal spending and raising concerns about potential regulatory impacts and politicization of research priorities.
Researchers, public-health officials, and hospitals gain a federal Board plus dedicated research grants to produce evidence-based strategies for preventing firearm violence.
Parents, families, and youth benefit from funded community violence-reduction programs and public-education campaigns supported by the Board's grants.
State and local policymakers receive annual reports and recommendations, increasing transparency and giving lawmakers timely evidence about what interventions work.
Gun owners and businesses could face new state or federal regulations if Board recommendations prompt lawmakers to change firearm rules.
Researchers and state governments risk politicization of research priorities because appointed agency representatives and experts could reflect partisan views.
Other research areas and institutions may see shifts in funding if research dollars become concentrated through this Board, despite prohibitions on reducing existing gun-violence research funds.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates an HHS Gun Safety Board to fund and conduct firearm-violence research, run a grants program, publish annual reports with recommendations, and authorizes recurring funding.
Creates a Gun Safety Board inside the Department of Health and Human Services to lead and fund original research on firearm violence, run a grant program for firearm-violence-reduction research and public education, and publish annual findings and policy recommendations. The Board will have 22 appointed members with staggered 4-year terms, meet at least monthly, and must be established within one year; a grants program and research activities must begin within two years. The bill authorizes specific yearly funding levels and forbids reducing other federal gun-violence research funding to supply these amounts.