Sponsors (4)
The bill channels federal funding and a formal advisory board to produce coordinated, evidence-based firearm-violence research and community programs—improving prevention efforts and policymaker information—but does so at added federal cost and with risks of perceived gun-rights impacts, funding shifts, and politicization of research.
Researchers and public-health institutions will get a federally chartered board plus dedicated research grants to study firearm-violence prevention, increasing federal support and coordination for evidence-based interventions.
Communities, families, and youth will gain new grant funding and public education resources to support local violence-reduction programs and awareness campaigns.
State and local policymakers and officials will receive annual reports and recommendations that increase transparency and provide timely evidence about which laws and interventions work.
Firearm owners and sellers may face new state or federal regulations prompted by the Board's recommendations, which some Americans will view as restrictions on firearm rights.
Taxpayers will ultimately bear increased federal spending—about $25 million per year after year two—to fund the Board and grants, potentially requiring budget offsets or higher deficits.
Researchers and other research priorities could lose funding or attention if grant flows become concentrated through this Board, shifting resources away from other topics despite protections against 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 grants and publish annual reports with policy and research recommendations.
Official title: To establish a Gun Safety Board, and for other purposes.
Introduced August 5, 2025 by Mark James Desaulnier · Last progress August 5, 2025
Creates a Gun Safety Board inside HHS to study firearm violence, run grants for original research and public education, and issue annual reports with research priorities and policy/funding recommendations. The Board (22 members) must be established within one year, meet monthly, conduct original research, create a grant program within two years using at least half of the law's appropriations, and publish findings on the effectiveness of state and federal firearm laws across multiple outcomes. Authorizes dedicated funding ( $5M for each of the first two fiscal years, and $25M each fiscal year thereafter) for the Board's activities and prohibits reducing other federal gun-violence research funding to provide these amounts.