President Barack Obama’s 23 executive actions on guns announced Wednesday include several big health pushes, including lifting a ban on gun control research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The directive allows federal funding for research into the causes and prevention of gun violence, something that was believed to be banned by Congress since the mid-1990s. At that time, Congress inserted language into the appropriations bill of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stipulating that funds could not be used “to advocate or promote gun control.”

The White House said Wednesday that its lawyers concluded that this language should not prevent CDC research itself. It directed the CDC to immediately begin research on gun violence, and in a summary of the presidential memorandum the White House mentions “links between video games, media images and violence.” The president also plans to ask for $10 million in research funding in his 2014 budget.

In his presidential memorandum on the matter, Mr. Obama wrote: “Significant strides can be made by assessing the causes of gun violence and the successful efforts in place for preventing the misuse of firearms. Taking these steps will improve our understanding of the gun violence epidemic and will aid in the continued development of gun violence prevention strategies.”