Mother Jones: “On Tuesday, as teenagers swarmed the Florida legislature to advocate for gun control, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico) renewed a familiar call for Congress to repeal an amendment that blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from funding research into the public health effects of gun violence.

I am calling for the repeal of the Dickey Amendment, which restricts the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from researching gun violence and its effects on public health. — Martin Heinrich (@MartinHeinrich) February 20, 2018

Heinrich’s plea comes less than a week after a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., left 17 people dead and injured 14 others, motivating teenagers across the country to protest lax gun laws. In a statement, Heinrich called the repeal of the restriction, known as the Dickey Amendment, a “no-brainer.” He added that in the midst of Congress’ inaction, the amendment’s removal would let lawmakers use “scientific information as our guiding light to combat the gun violence epidemic that is threatening our country.”