Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 , President Barack Obama directed the CDC and other federal agencies to " conduct or sponsor research into the causes of gun violence and the ways to prevent it . " The CDC responded by funding a research project and conducting their own study in 2015 . That month , a spokeswoman for the agency , Courtney Lenard , told the '' Washington Post '' that " it is possible for us to conduct firearm-related research within the context of our efforts to address youth violence , domestic violence , sexual violence , and suicide . But our resources are very limited . " In October 2015 , 110 members of Congress , all of whom were Democrats , signed a letter calling on Congress to reject the amendment . Despite the efforts of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to have the Dickey amendment removed from the spending bill for the following year , Congress passed this bill with the amendment still in it
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Dickey Amendment