GOOD AFTERNOON, CONSORTIUM MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE CONSORTIUM,

While we are enduring a global pandemic that demands our attention, we hope that you all were able to take a moment to celebrate Public Health Week this month. Thank you all for your incredible contributions to the public health field and for your continuous dedication to preventing gun violence. We are honored to work alongside you all in working to stop gun violence in all its forms using the public health approach.

Read on for new resources and news highlights from this month, followed by our monthly research recap.

New Resources:

• The Ed Fund released a new report, Firearm Suicide and COVID-19: Mitigating Risk During a Pandemic, which outlines what the current research says about the risk factors for suicide that may become more prevalent during COVID-19. The report also includes interventions that are available to help mitigate the risk of firearm suicide.
• The newly formed Pandemic Crisis Services Response Coalition created a robust website to help people find mental health treatment during the pandemic.
• The Duke Center for Firearms Law continues to blog extensively on firearms law, the Second Amendment, COVID-19, and the Supreme Court.
• The Annual SAVIR Conference, Promoting Health Equity Through the Science of Injury and Violence Prevention, is virtual this year and registration is open.

Extreme Risk Laws Update:

• Virginia’s extreme risk law was signed into law on April 8 and will go into effect on July 1, 2020. Currently, 19 states and the District of Columbia have enacted extreme risk laws.
• San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott discusses how GVROs (California’s extreme risk law) are being utilized during COVID-19 in the Times of San Diego.

Many Consortium members and friends of the Consortium have participated in media appearances and interviews, helping to educate the public on the intersection of COVID-19 and gun violence. Here are a few highlights:

• Emmy Betz was interviewed on Rocky Mountain PBS on suicide prevention and the increase in gun sales.
• Emmy Betz and Jessica Gold penned an op-ed in Slate: Fear and Isolation May Not Actually Bring a Rise in Suicides.
• David Hemenway was quoted in Mother Jones on the increase of gun sales in America.
• Matt Miller was quoted in The Guardian on the the surge in gun sales and the implications for firearm suicide.
• Veronica Pear, Amy Barnhorst, and Garen Wintemute penned an op-ed in Psychology Today: The Killer in Your Closet.
• Daniel Webster and Shannon Frattaroli were interviewed on American Health Podcast on coronavirus and the impact on gun violence.
• Daniel Webster was quoted in the Baltimore Sun on gun violence during coronavirus.
• Garen Wintemute was interviewed on CapRadio’s Insight With Beth Ruyak on coronavirus and the impact on gun violence.
• The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence shared a new blog on Applying a Public Health Approach to Gun Violence Prevention.

Last but certainly not least, congratulations are in order! Please join us in extending our hearty congratulations to two Consortium steering committee members:

• Paul Appelbaum, Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, & Law at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, who was chosen for the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum’s 2020 Ethics Prize! The CINP’s Ethics Prize in Psychopharmacology recognizes an individual’s outstanding achievements in ethics research within the field of psychopharmacology as well as their contribution to the promotion of public awareness of ethics in psychopharmacology and contributions to the world-wide solution of issues and questions within the ethical practice of psychopharmacology.
• Jeff Swanson, Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University School of Medicine, was been selected as the 2020 recipient of the prestigious Isaac Ray Award by the American Psychiatric Association! He will deliver the Isaac Ray Lecture on the topic of extreme risk protection orders. The Isaac Ray Award, established in 1951, recognizes a person who has made outstanding contributions to forensic psychiatry or to the psychiatric aspects of jurisprudence. It is a joint award of the APA and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law that honors Isaac Ray, M.D., one of the original founders and the fourth president of the APA. Past awardees include Consortium members Paul Appelbaum (1990), John Monahan (1996), Richard Bonnie (1998), Marvin Swartz (2015), and Renee Binder (2018).

As a reminder, our newsletter archive is publicly available and we share the research recaps on Twitter throughout the month – join us! Please tag us in your tweets or email us your updates (and your good news!) so we can amplify and highlight the gun violence prevention work you’re doing.

Continue to stay safe, stay healthy, and take care of each other.