NJ advances bill for taxpayer-funded ‘firearm violence’ research

By Chris Eger

The bill would give $400,000 in public funds to Rutgers’ University Behavioral Health Care and the School of Criminal Justice to study the nature of firearms violence while working with lawmakers and state agencies on policy. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
A New Jersey Senate Committee on Thursday approved a measure that would pay Rutgers University to undertake an extensive study to examine firearms-related violence.
The bill, S 63, would go so far as look at “firearms violence as a form of terrorism” as researchers delve into the subject on both individual and societal levels. The sponsor of the bill, which passed the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee 4-1 this week, says it is needed to take the place of federal research.
“For too long, the CDC [Centers for Disease Control] has been banned from researching gun violence as a public health issue,” said state Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, in a statement  “Yet, 89 people die every day across our nation due to firearms. If this isn’t a public health issue – or even a public health emergency – then I don’t know what is. If the federal government won’t allow this research to occur, then we will take the matter into our own

Source: Guns.com