WASHINGTON – Representatives August Pfluger (TX-11) and Elise Stefanik (NY-21) sent a letter to the Director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky decrying the removal of a CDC-commissioned study regarding defensive gun use (DGU) from the CDC website. The study was removed as a result of a private meeting held between the CDC And gun control activists.

In the letter, the Members write: “The gun control debate is not about hobbies or sports. It is about protecting one of the most fundamental rights afforded to the American people. There is a difference between providing information to educate consumers, and censoring facts that third-party groups may disagree with politically … This censorship panders to the activist groups who aim to cover up the fact that much of the firearm industry prevails because consumers seek the ability to protect their life, liberty, and property. If agencies created with informing the American public are so easily swayed by political-interest groups, they will lose all credibility with the American people. The politicization of our institutions must end.”

“Public trust in the CDC is already at an all-time low,” said Rep. August Pfluger. “Now we find out the supposed ‘non-partisan agency’ is removing information that gun control activists don’t like. The CDC’s own study showed that Americans have relied on their own guns for self-defense upwards of 2.5 million times in a year. Congress needs to act and put guardrails in place to protect from this behavior. Our letter stands up for law-abiding gun owners in the United States and against political censorship. Americans have had enough.”

“The CDC must immediately end their blatant politicization of the facts in pursuit of the Far Left anti-gun agenda,” said Rep. Stefanik. “The Biden Administration is shamefully lying to the American people and hiding the facts of how law-abiding citizens use their Constitutionally-protected Second Amendment rights to keep our families and communities safe. The American people deserve the truth, not more partisan action from the CDC. I will continue to provide a critical check on Joe Biden and hold Democrats accountable for attacking the Constitutional rights of Americans.”

Read the full letter here.