 Gillibrand's support of gun rights has been characterized more specifically as support of hunters' rights.Despite her mother being an avid hunter, Gillibrand has never hunted before, though she has shot skeet.In January 2016, Gillibrand was one of eighteen senators to sign a letter to Thad Cochran and Barbara Mikulski requesting that the Labor, Health and Education subcommittee hold a hearing on whether to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fund a study of gun violence and "the annual appropriations rider that some have interpreted as preventing it" with taxpayer dollars.