GOOD MORNING, CONSORTIUM MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE CONSORTIUM,

Over the last month, we again saw national news cycles dominated by mass shootings — most prominently in Atlanta, GA and Boulder, CO, as well as Chicago, IL, Orange, CA, Philadelphia, PA, and Virginia Beach, VA. While it may seem like a return to mass shootings, we know that the horrific violence making national news is the tip of the iceberg (see: The way we think about mass shootings ignores many black victims in The Trace). There were 611 mass shooting incidents in 2020 according to the Gun Violence Archive, not to mention the everyday gun homicides and suicides that often don’t make the news at all (on average 24,000 suicides and ~14,500 homicides per year). This is our normal, and we need to change that. We grieve these tragic losses of life and renew our deep commitment to advancing policies that are rooted in evidence, focus on risk, and hold promise to prevent gun violence.

One way we work to advance gun violence prevention is through public education. With that in mind, it’s National Public Health Week! The Consortium (@Consortium_RBFP) will be participating in the 4th annual Public Health for Gun Violence Prevention #PH4GVP twitter chat, co-hosted by the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, and American Public Health Association. The chat is today, April 6, from 11:00am-12:00 pm ET. We hope you’ll join the conversation!

• Haven’t joined a twitter chat before? Here is a primer: Search #PH4GVP to follow the conversation and use the #PH4GVP and #NPHW hashtags in each of your tweets. Make sure to follow @EFSGV (the account posting the questions), along with @Consortium_RBFP and @CSGV.

Federal updates

• President Joe Biden’s The American Job Plan included a $5 billion investment in community-based gun violence prevention programs over eight years. Visit https://investinuscoalition.org/ for information on the advocacy campaign behind this incredible effort. Congratulations and thank you to Consortium contributor Shani Buggs for her involvement in this effort.
• Key GVP bills passed the House:
  • The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2021 passed the House of Representatives on March 3
  • The Bipartisan Background Checks Act and Enhanced Background Checks Act both passed the House of Representatives on March 11
  • The Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act passed the House of Representatives on March 17. The bill includes the Consortium’s 2016 recommendation to change federal law to prohibit purchase and possession of firearms by persons subject to temporary domestic violence protective orders so as to ensure that victims are provided safety throughout the entire protective order process. (Firearm Removal/Retrieval in Cases of Domestic Violence)
• The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing, “Constitutional and Common Sense Steps to Reduce Gun Violence” on March 23 (Josh Horwitz’s Statement for the Record includes Consortium recommendations related to ERPO)
• Senators Blumenthal and Feinstein sent a letter to President Biden urging him to take executive actions on ERPO. Some of these recommendations are based on the Consortium’s 2020 ERPO report, including: “For states that have enacted ERPO statutes, the Department of Justice (DOJ) can strengthen those existing ERPO protections by issuing best practices guidance, offering technical assistance on ERPO implementation and enforcement, providing training for law enforcement and judges, and supporting data collection and analysis on ERPOs granted by state courts.”

Media highlights

• The path to solving gun violence? Science. – Nina Vinik in Chicago Tribune
• American cities have always regulated guns. Now, most can’t. – Joseph Blocher in Washington Post
• A thing I wrote about guns and loopholes. – Michael Harriot in The Root
• California AG office withholding data on gun sales, restraining orders from researchers and an update, Will AG disclose gun records? – Sac Bee Capitol Alerts quoting Garen Wintemute
• 6 bold ideas for gun reform that could actually happen. – Matt Valentine in Politico
• Why has gun violence increased in the United States? – BU Today interview with Jonathan Jay
• To prevent gun violence, we must embrace safe firearm storage. – Mike Anestis in NorthJersey.com
• We must treat gun violence as a public health crisis. These 4 steps will help us reduce deaths. – Megan Ranney in Time
• Can new gun violence research find a path around the political stalemate? – New York Times quoting Garen Wintemute, among others
• How do we stop the parade of gun deaths? – New York Times quoting Garen Wintemute, Daniel Webster, among others

Upcoming events

• April 5-11: National Public Health Week, Building Bridges to Better Health
• April 6: #PH4GVP annual twitter chat hosted by @EFSGV @CSGV @NPHW
• April 12: Duke Center for Firearms Law webinar, The Second Amendment and the State’s Monopoly on Violence
• April 21: University of Iowa Injury Prevention Research Center webinar, Research Methods to Evaluate Firearms Policy
• Through July: The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s media trainings for public health professionals

Research funding opportunities

• NIH: Firearm Injury and Mortality Prevention Research (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
• NIH: Firearm Injury and Mortality Prevention Research (R21/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)
• CDC: Preventing Violence Affecting Young Lives (PREVAYL) – an informational call will be held April 8

Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here. You can see past newsletters in our archive and hope you’ll join us on twitter as we share research and updates throughout the month.