**No, they didn't**

The [NRA is a civil rights organization](http://home.nra.org), and isn't capable of blocking federal research funding related to gun violence and gun control. That is the job of Congress. 

Congress passed the [1996 Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Bill](http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-104publ208/pdf/PLAW-104publ208.pdf), which contains the following language:

> none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control

This [amendment was added](http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/02/gun-violence.aspx) by U.S. House Representative Jay Dickey (R-AR) and was approved by 104th Congress.

> **this language did not explicitly ban research on gun violence**. However, Congress also took $2.6 million from the CDC’s budget — the amount the CDC had invested in firearm injury research the previous year —and earmarked the funds for prevention of traumatic brain injury.