Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is urging Congress to fund research into gun violence.

Healey sent a letter to Congress Tuesday seeking direct funding to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the "causes and prevention of gun-related injuries and death."

Healey says attorneys general need "evidence-based strategies to combat the epidemic of gun violence," which she says kills more than 33,000 people each year in the United States.

Healey says federal funding for gun violence research by the CDC has been cut by 96 percent since 1996.

Healey was in Washington, D.C., Tuesday to discuss Massachusetts' efforts to combat gun violence.

Attorneys general from California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington state and the District of Columbia signed Healey's letter.