H.R. 5622 — National Gun Violence Research Act of 2025

This section states the following congressional findings regarding gun violence: (1) more individuals in the United States have died from gunshots in the last 50 years than in all wars in which the United States was a combatant, combined; (2) the U.S. rate of gun violence deaths is more than 11 times that of other high-income nations; (3) guns accounted for 79% of homicides and 55% of suicides in 2023, totaling over 45,000 deaths; (4) gun violence disproportionately affects communities of color, with Black Americans in 2022 being 12 times as likely as White Americans to be killed and Hispanic and Latino Americans twice as likely; (5) appropriations act provisions dating back to 1996 have restricted federal funding for gun violence research, resulting in underfunding relative to other leading causes of death; (6) research on gun-related violence, suicide, and unintentional injury does not constitute advocacy for or against gun control policies; and (7) additional research and data are needed to inform strategies to reduce gun-related injury and death.

This section defines, for purposes of the Act, (1) the term "Director" as the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; (2) the term "institution of higher education" as having the meaning given that term in section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001); and (3) the term "Program" as the National Gun Violence Research Program established under section 5.

This section repeals restrictions on federal firearms trace data and gun violence research by (1) striking the sixth proviso under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)—Salaries and Expenses heading in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2012 (Public Law 112-55), and limiting similar provisos in prior appropriations acts (Public Laws 111-117, 111-8, 110-161, 109-108, and 108-447) from applying "beginning in fiscal year [2008-2010] and thereafter" or "with respect to any fiscal year" to only the specified fiscal year (FY2008-FY2010) or striking the latter phrase; and (2) authorizing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), to conduct or support gun violence research notwithstanding any other provision of law. (As background, the struck or limited provisos—often called Tiahrt amendments—generally prohibited ATF from releasing gun trace data, i.e., serial number and sales records for crime-recovered firearms, to researchers or the public. Thus, the amendments remove barriers to such data use and federal gun violence research.)

This section establishes the National Gun Violence Research Program, to be developed and implemented by the President acting through the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in collaboration with covered agencies (National Science Foundation, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Justice, and others as determined by the OSTP Director). The program supports gun violence research; accelerates translation of research into policy interventions; expands researchers and students in the field; and improves federal coordination, through covered agency activities that include awarding research grants to investigators and teams, funding joint solicitations, establishing interdisciplinary research centers, providing education and training for students and scholars, and promoting voluntary consensus gun safety standards. This section further requires (1) an interagency working group, chaired by the OSTP Director and convened within 90 days of enactment, to oversee program coordination, set goals and priorities, and develop a strategic plan within 12 months (updated every five years); and (2) an advisory committee of at least 12 members from research institutions, higher education, health care, local government, law enforcement, community organizations, and nonprofits, convened within 180 days of enactment, to assess program management, funding balance, goal effectiveness, and revision needs. This section authorizes $200,000 annually for FY2026 through FY2031 to the OSTP Director for the program.

This section directs the National Science Foundation to award competitive grants to institutions of higher education or nonprofits for multidisciplinary research on gun violence (including causes, consequences, suicide, homicide, unintended injuries, policy effects on self-defense, hunting, recreation, and the gun industry), researcher training, and establishment of one or more National Centers for Violence Research, and authorizes $15 million annually for FY2026 through FY2031. This section directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology to promote voluntary consensus gun safety technical standards through stakeholder outreach, research, and standard reference materials—without authority to impose mandatory standards—and authorizes $1 million annually for FY2026 through FY2031. This section directs the Department of Health and Human Services, through the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies, to award competitive grants for research on gun violence prevention, and authorizes $25 million annually for FY2026 through FY2031. This section directs the Department of Justice (1) through the National Institute of Justice, to conduct or sponsor gun violence research; (2) to develop ethical protocols for researcher access to gun trace data within 180 days of enactment and to begin sharing Firearms Trace System data and certain licensee records within one year; and (3) authorizes $3 million annually for FY2026 through FY2031.