Kingsport Reporter

A group of House Republicans is urging Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to eliminate any remaining gun control efforts within his department. They argue these efforts violate federal law and undermine the Second Amendment. The request is outlined in a letter led by Representative Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn. The letter calls on Kennedy to reverse a policy from the Biden administration that declared gun violence a "public health emergency."

The letter states, "We write to you today to urge you to protect the Second Amendment from attacks by a partisan and weaponized Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH)—which became a dangerous threat to gun ownership under the Biden Administration."

A 1996 spending bill prohibited federal funding from advocating gun control, known as the Dickey Amendment. However, the language was softened in a 2018 spending bill, allowing the CDC to research gun violence causes. The letter, signed by 15 House GOP lawmakers, argues that the Biden administration exceeded these allowances.

"[T]he Biden White House and gun control advocates censored self-defense statistics from the CDC website, statistics that would have helped explain the importance of the Second Amendment to our citizens," the group contends. Moreover, they argue that millions of dollars in research funding were weaponized for “Firearm Injury and Mortality Prevention Research” to promote gun control.

The letter highlights various gun control initiatives by the previous administration, including a $428,000 study on "episodic crime reports," $1.1 million for examining lawful gun ownership ties to risk, and funding for gun confiscation policies in states like Michigan and California.

"Congress intended for the CDC and NIH to conduct research on medical procedures, practices, treatments, medicines, and therapies related to firearm injuries and recovery," the lawmakers wrote. "Instead, this funding has been weaponized to promote and advocate gun control in direct violation of federal law."

The letter concludes with a request for Kennedy to cease any remaining funding violating the Dickey Amendment and to restore self-defense statistics on the CDC website.