1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Public Health
  4. Volume 42, 2021
  5. Article

Annual Review of Public Health

Volume 42, 2021

Considerations for Developing an Agenda for Gun Violence Prevention Research

Abstract

In December 2019, for the first time in more than 20 years, the US Congress appropriated, and the president signed, a bill that included $25 million for gun violence prevention research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. This research should find ways to reduce injury, death, and suffering while protecting the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms. Four questions can structure this research agenda. First, what is the problem: How many people get shot, who are they, where does it happen, what is the relationship between the shooter and the victim, what other types of damage are incurred, and are the shootings increasing or decreasing? Second, what are the causes: What is the role of alcohol and drugs; what is the role of gangs, poverty, and systemic racism; what is the role of mental illness, robbery, and domestic violence; what is the role of private gun ownership (both positive and negative) and easy access to guns? What are the factors that protect us, such as stable families and safe environments? Third, what works: Which practices, interventions, policies, and laws work best to prevent these deaths and injuries? And fourth, how do you do it: How do you implement the findings and translate them into policies, legislation, and practices that can be scaled up?

Keyword(s): firearms, gun violence prevention, research agenda
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117
2021-04-01
2024-04-25
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/publhealth/42/1/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. 1. 
    Alcorn T. 2017. Trends in research publications about gun violence in the United States, 1960 to 2014. JAMA Intern. Med. 177:1124–26
     [Google Scholar]
  2. 2. 
    Alcorn T. 2019. Twenty-five years of impactful grant making: gun violence prevention research supported by the Joyce Foundation Rep., Joyce Found., Chicago http://www.joycefdn.org/assets/images/Joyce_Report_v5.pdf
  3. 3. 
    APA (Am. Psychol. Assoc.) 2013. Gun violence: Prediction, prevention, and policy APA Panel Experts Rep., APA Washington, DC: https://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/gun-violence-report.pdf
  4. 4. 
    Blattman C, Jamison JC, Sheridan M. 2017. Reducing crime and violence: experimental evidence from cognitive behavioral therapy in Liberia. Am. Econ. Rev. 107:41165–206
     [Google Scholar]
  5. 5. 
    Castillo-Carniglia A, Kagawa RMC, Cerdá M, Crifasi CK, Vernick JS et al. 2019. California's comprehensive background check and misdemeanor violence prohibition policies and firearm mortality. Ann. Epidemiol. 30:50–56
     [Google Scholar]
  6. 6. 
    CDC (Cent. Dis. Control Prev.) 2012. Lesson 1: Introduction to epidemiology. Section 7: Analytic epidemiology. Principles of Epidemiology in Public Health Practice https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson1/section7.html
    [Google Scholar]
  7. 7. 
    Cook PJ. 2020. Thinking about gun violence. Criminol. Public Policy. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12519
    [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  8. 8. 
    Cook PJ, Braga AA, Turchan BS, Barao LM. 2019. Why do gun murders have a higher clearance rate than gunshot assaults?. Criminol. Public Policy 18:3525–51
     [Google Scholar]
  9. 9. 
    Cook PJ, Donohue JJ. 2017. Saving lives by regulating guns: evidence for policy. Science 358:1259–61
     [Google Scholar]
  10. 10. 
    Cook PJ, Goss KA. 2014. The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs To Know® Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press
  11. 11. 
    Cook PJ, Ludwig J. 2006. The social costs of gun ownership. J. Public Econ. 90:1–2379–91
     [Google Scholar]
  12. 12. 
    Cook PJ, Ludwig J. 2019. Understanding gun violence: public health versus public policy. J. Policy Anal. Manag. 38:3788–95
     [Google Scholar]
  13. 13. 
    Cook PJ, Ludwig J, Venkatesh S, Braga AA. 2007. Underground gun markets. Econ. J. 117:F558–88
     [Google Scholar]
  14. 14. 
    Crifasi CK, Buggs SAL, Choksy S, Webster DW. 2017. The initial impact of Maryland's Firearm Safety Act of 2013 on the supply of crime handguns in Baltimore. RSF Russell Sage Found. J. Soc. Sci. 3:5128–40
     [Google Scholar]
  15. 15. 
    Crifasi CK, Merrill-Francis M, McCourt A, Vernick JS, Wintemute GJ, Webster DW. 2018. Association between firearm laws and homicide in urban counties. J. Urban Health 95:3383–90
     [Google Scholar]
  16. 16. 
    Crifasi CK, Meyers JS, Vernick JS, Webster DW. 2015. Effects of changes in permit-to-purchase handgun laws in Connecticut and Missouri on suicide rates. Prev. Med. 79:43–49
     [Google Scholar]
  17. 17. 
    Crifasi CK, Pollack KM, Webster DW. 2016. Effects of state-level policy changes on homicide and nonfatal shootings of law enforcement officers. Inj. Prev. 22:4274–78
     [Google Scholar]
  18. 18. 
    Cunningham RM, Carter PM, Ranney ML, Walton M, Zeoli AM et al. 2019. Prevention of firearm injuries among children and adolescents: consensus-driven research agenda from the Firearm Safety Among Children and Teens (FACTS) consortium. JAMA Pediatr 173:8780–89
     [Google Scholar]
  19. 19. 
    Grinshteyn E, Hemenway D. 2019. Violent death rates in the US compared to those of the other high-income countries, 2015. Prev. Med. 123:20–26
     [Google Scholar]
  20. 20. 
    Hahn RA, Bilukha O, Crosby A, Fullilove MT, Liberman A et al. 2005. Firearms laws and the reduction of violence: a systematic review. Am. J. Prev. Med. 28:2 Suppl. 140–71
     [Google Scholar]
  21. 21. 
    Hasegawa RB, Webster DW, Small DS. 2019. Evaluating Missouri's handgun purchaser law: a bracketing method for addressing concerns about history interacting with group. Epidemiology 30:3371–79
     [Google Scholar]
  22. 22. 
    Heller SB, Shah AK, Guryan J, Ludwig J, Mullainathan S, Pollack HA. 2017. Thinking, fast and slow? Some field experiments to reduce crime and dropout in Chicago. Q. J. Econ. 132:11–54
     [Google Scholar]
  23. 23. 
    Hemenway D. 1997. Survey research and self-defense gun use: an explanation of extreme overestimates. J. Crim. Law Criminol. 87:41430–45
     [Google Scholar]
  24. 24. 
    Hemenway D. 2004. Private Guns, Public Health Ann Arbor: Univ. Mich. Press. , New Ed..
  25. 25. 
    Hemenway D, Miller M. 2019. Counterpoint: Reducing firearm violence—why a public health approach is helpful. J. Policy Anal. Manag. 38:3795–801
     [Google Scholar]
  26. 26. 
    Hemenway D, Nolan EP. 2017. The scientific agreement on firearm issues. Inj. Prev. 23:4221–25
     [Google Scholar]
  27. 27. 
    Hemenway D, Solnick SJ, Azrael DR. 1995. Firearm Training and Storage-Reply. JAMA 273:221733–34
     [Google Scholar]
  28. 28. 
    Jamieson C. 2013. Scientists develop agenda for gun violence research. Psychological Science Agenda https://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2013/07-08/gun-violence
    [Google Scholar]
  29. 29. 
    Kagawa RMC, Castillo-Carniglia A, Vernick JS, Webster D, Crifasi C et al. 2018. Repeal of comprehensive background check policies and firearm homicide and suicide. Epidemiology 29:4494–502
     [Google Scholar]
  30. 30. 
    Kagawa RMC, Stewart S, Wright MA, Shev AB, Pear VA et al. 2019. Association of prior convictions for driving under the influence with risk of subsequent arrest for violent crimes among handgun purchasers. JAMA Intern. Med. 30:e194491
     [Google Scholar]
  31. 31. 
    Kleck G. 2004. Measures of gun ownership levels for macro-level crime and violence research. J. Res. Crime Delinq. 41:3–36
     [Google Scholar]
  32. 32. 
    Leshner AI, Altevogt BM, Lee AF, McCoy MF 2013. Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence Washington, DC: Natl. Acad. Press
  33. 33. 
    Lott JR Jr. 2012. What a balancing test will show for right-to-carry laws. Md. L. Rev. 71:1205–18
     [Google Scholar]
  34. 34. 
    Lott JR Jr. 2013. More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press. , 3rd ed..
  35. 35. 
    Lott JR Jr., Mustard DB. 1997. Crime, deterrence, and right-to-carry concealed handguns. J. Legal Stud. 26:11–68
     [Google Scholar]
  36. 36. 
    McCourt AD, Crifasi CK, Stuart ES, Vernick JS, Kagawa RMC et al. 2020. Effects of purchaser licensing and point-of-sale background check laws on firearm homicide and suicide in four states. Am. J. Public Health 110:1546–52
     [Google Scholar]
  37. 37. 
    Mercy JA, Rosenberg ML, Powell KE, Broome CV, Roper WL. 1993. Public health policy for preventing violence. Health Aff 12:47–29
     [Google Scholar]
  38. 38. 
    Miller M Hepburn L, Azrael D. 2017. Firearm acquisition without background checks. Ann. Intern. Med. 166:233–39
     [Google Scholar]
  39. 39. 
    Morral AR, Schell TL, Tankard M. 2018. The Magnitude and Sources of Disagreement Among Gun Policy Experts Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp.
  40. 40. 
    Natl. Res. Counc 2004. Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review CF Wellford, JV Pepper, CV Petrie Washington, DC: Natl. Acad. Press
  41. 41. 
    NCIPC (Natl. Cent. Inj. Prev. Control) 2019. National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS). Violence Prevention https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nvdrs/index.html
    [Google Scholar]
  42. 42. 
    NCIPC (Natl. Cent. Inj. Prev. Control) 2020. WISQARS (Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System). Injury Prevention & Control https://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html
    [Google Scholar]
  43. 43. 
    NHTSA (Natl. Highw. Traffic Adm.) 2015. Lives saved by vehicle safety technologies and associated federal motor vehicle safety standards 1960–2012. Fact Sheet, NHTSA Washington, DC: https://www.nhtsa.gov/staticfiles/communications/pdf/Lives-Saved-Fact-Sheet.pdf
    [Google Scholar]
  44. 44. 
    Roman JK. 2019. Expert panel on firearms data infrastructure. NORC https://www.norc.org/Research/Projects/Pages/expert-panel-on-firearms-data-infrastructure.aspx
    [Google Scholar]
  45. 45. 
    Rosenberg ML. 2019. Let's bring the full power of science to gun violence prevention. Am. J. Public Health 109:3396–97
     [Google Scholar]
  46. 46. 
    Rostron A. 2018. The Dickey Amendment on federal funding for research on gun violence: a legal dissection. Am. J. Public Health 108:7865–67
     [Google Scholar]
  47. 47. 
    Rudolph KE, Stuart EA, Vernick JS, Webster DW. 2015. Association between Connecticut's permit-to-purchase handgun law and homicides. Am. J. Public Health 105:8e49–54
     [Google Scholar]
  48. 48. 
    Smart R, Morral A, Smucker S, Cherney S, Schell T et al. 2020. The Science of Gun Policy: A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp. , 2nd ed..
  49. 49. 
    Stark DE, Shah NH. 2017. Funding and publication of research on gun violence and other leading causes of death. JAMA 317:184
     [Google Scholar]
  50. 50. 
    Studdert DM, Zhang Y, Swanson SA, Prince L, Rodden JA et al. 2020. Handgun ownership and suicide in California. New Engl. J. Med. 382:232220–29
     [Google Scholar]
  51. 51. 
    Swanson J, Norko M, Lin H-J, Alanis-Hirsch K, Frisman L et al. 2017. Implementation and effectiveness of Connecticut's risk-based gun removal law: Does it prevent suicides?. Law Contemp. Probl. 80:2179–208
     [Google Scholar]
  52. 52. 
    Swanson JW. 2011. Explaining rare acts of violence: the limits of evidence from population research. Psychiatr. Serv. 62:111369–71
     [Google Scholar]
  53. 53. 
    Swanson JW. 2019. Understanding the research on extreme risk protection orders: varying results, same message. Psychiatr. Serv. 70:10953–54
     [Google Scholar]
  54. 54. 
    Swanson JW. 2020. The color of risk protection orders: gun violence, gun laws, and racial justice. Inj. Epidemiol. 7:146
     [Google Scholar]
  55. 55. 
    Swanson JW. 2020. Preventing suicide through better firearm safety policy in the United States. Psychiatr. Serv. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000317
    [Crossref] [Google Scholar]
  56. 56. 
    Swanson JW, Barry CL, Swartz MS 2019. Gun violence prevention and mental health policy. In The Palgrave Handbook of American Mental Health Policy HH Goldman, RG Frank, JP Morrissey 509–41 New York: Palgrave Macmillan
     [Google Scholar]
  57. 57. 
    Swanson JW, Easter MM, Alanis-Hirsch K, Belden CM, Norko MA et al. 2019. Criminal justice and suicide outcomes with Indiana's risk-based gun seizure law. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 47:188–97
     [Google Scholar]
  58. 58. 
    Swanson JW, Felthous AR. 2015. Guns, mental illness, and the law: introduction to this issue. Behav. Sci. Law 33:2–3167–77
     [Google Scholar]
  59. 59. 
    Swanson JW, McGinty EE, Fazel S, Mays VM. 2015. Mental illness and reduction of gun violence and suicide: bringing epidemiologic research to policy. Ann. Epidemiol. 25:5366–76
     [Google Scholar]
  60. 60. 
    Swanson JW, Sampson NA, Petukhova MV, Zaslavsky AM, Appelbaum PS et al. 2015. Guns, impulsive angry behavior, and mental disorders: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Behav. Sci. Law 33:2–3199–212
     [Google Scholar]
  61. 61. 
    Swanson JW, Tong G, Robertson AR, Swartz MS. 2020. Gun-related and other violent crime after involuntary commitment and short-term emergency holds. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 48:4454–67
     [Google Scholar]
  62. 62. 
    Teret SP, Wintemute GJ. 1993. Policies to prevent firearm injuries. Health Aff 12:496–108
     [Google Scholar]
  63. 63. 
    Vinik NE. 2019. The critical role of philanthropy in researching solutions to gun violence. Health Aff. Blog Dec. 5. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20191202.831793
    [Google Scholar]
  64. 64. 
    Webster D, Crifasi CK, Vernick JS. 2014. Effects of the repeal of Missouri's handgun purchaser licensing law on homicides. J. Urban Health 91:2293–302
     [Google Scholar]
  65. 65. 
    Webster DW, McCourt AD, Crifasi CK, Booty MD, Stuart EA. 2020. Evidence concerning the regulation of firearms design, sale, and carrying on fatal mass shootings in the United State. s. Criminol. Public Policy 19:1171–212
     [Google Scholar]
  66. 66. 
    Webster DW, Vernick JS 2013. Reducing Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy with Evidence and Analysis Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press
  67. 67. 
    Webster DW, Wintemute GJ. 2015. Effects of policies designed to keep firearms from high-risk individuals. Annu. Rev. Public Health 36:21–37
     [Google Scholar]
  68. 68. 
    Weiner J, Wiebe DJ, Richmond TS, Beam K, Berman AL et al. 2007. Reducing firearm violence: a research agenda. Inj. Prev. 13:280–84
     [Google Scholar]
  69. 69. 
    Wintemute GJ. 2015. The epidemiology of firearm violence in the twenty-first century United States. Annu. Rev. Public Health 36:5–19
     [Google Scholar]
  70. 70. 
    Wintemute GJ. 2017. Firearms licensee characteristics associated with sales of crime-involved firearms and denied sales: findings from the firearms licensee survey. RSF Russell Sage Found. J. Soc. Sci. 3:558–74
     [Google Scholar]
  71. 71. 
    Wintemute GJ. 2019. Background checks for firearm purchases: problem areas and recommendations to improve effectiveness. Health Aff 38:101702–10
     [Google Scholar]
  72. 72. 
    Wintemute GJ, Cook PJ, Wright MA. 2005. Risk factors among handgun retailers for frequent and disproportionate sales of guns used in violent and firearm related crimes.. Inj. Prev. 11:6357–63
     [Google Scholar]
  73. 73. 
    Wintemute GJ, Wright MA, Drake CM, Beaumont JJ. 2001. Subsequent criminal activity among violent misdemeanants who seek to purchase handguns: risk factors and effectiveness of denying handgun purchase. JAMA 285:81019–26
     [Google Scholar]
  74. 74. 
    Zeoli AM, McCourt A, Buggs S, Frattaroli S, Lilley D, Webster DW. 2018. Analysis of the strength of legal firearms restrictions for perpetrators of domestic violence and their associations with intimate partner homicide. Am. J. Epidemiol. 187:71449–55
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117
Loading
Considerations for Developing an Agenda for Gun Violence Prevention Research
Annual Review of Public Health 42, 23 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-012420-105117
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error