California Approves Funding For Gun Violence Research Center

SACRAMENTO (AP) — California's state budget includes $5 million for a gun violence research center at the University of California.

The Assembly and Senate approved the research funding Thursday as part of several pieces of budget-related legislation.

Gun-violence researchers have long complained that funding is hard to find since Congress in 1996 prohibited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from paying for gun research.

Democratic Sen. Lois Wolk of Davis says violent acts including the weekend mass shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida has left people searching for answers. She says scientific data and methods can help provide them.

Gun-rights advocates were opposed, saying the research would be used to bolster more gun control laws.