HAPPY NEW YEAR, MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE CONSORTIUM,

As we reflect upon a year that brought unprecedented challenges and new perspectives, we are thankful for you, the thoughtful and dedicated community that makes up the Consortium’s members, friends, and the field of gun violence prevention. We are honored to work alongside you in making the world a safer, better place through risk-based firearm policy.

We would like to offer a special thanks to those of who are healthcare providers and others on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of you spent 2020 serving selflessly — treating patients, educating the public, conducting research, and advocating for change — often to combat both COVID-19 and gun violence. We are all indebted to you.

We look optimistically to 2021 and wish you and yours a healthy, safe, and happy New Year.

In the spirit of looking forward, our colleagues at the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence shared gun violence prevention recommendations with the incoming Biden-Harris Administration’s transition team, including federal support for Consortium-recommended ERPOs and lethal means safety counseling. We look forward to continued advocacy and advancement of the Consortium’s recommendations in policy nationwide.

New data:

• The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence conducted early analyses of the CDC’s newly released 2019 mortality data (twitter thread and press release also available), including the following findings:
  • The decade: the overall U.S. gun death rate increased 17% from 2010-2019
  • In 2019, there were 39,707 gun deaths in the U.S., of which
    • 60% were suicides (23,941) and 36% were homicides (14,414).
    • 3,390 were children and teens (0-19 years).
    • 86% were male.
  • Firearm homicide continues to disproportionately impact young, Black males: 37% of gun homicide victims in 2019 were Black teens and men between the ages of 15-34, although they make up only 2% of the U.S. population. They were killed by gun homicide at a rate nearly 17 times higher than non-Latino White males of the same age group.
  • The firearm suicide rate has been growing over the last decade. While 2019 showed a slight reprieve with 491 fewer firearm suicides reported than in 2018, suicide (by any method) continues to be the 10th leading cause of death in the country and firearms continue to account for half of all suicides.
• The Trace published an analysis of preliminary 2020 city-level homicide data, finding that homicides rose by 50 percent or more in 2020 in over a dozen cities. Consortium contributor Shani Buggs is quoted.

New resources:

• Clinical tools from the VA for lethal means safety counseling in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), including a provider manual and set of handouts and worksheets, are now available via the BulletPoints Project resource library. These materials were inspired in part by the Consortium’s 2017 report.
  • Hear from VA psychologist Lauren Jackson, lead author of these resources, calling on her colleagues to join her in action via the DBT Bulletin; Consortium managing director Vicka Chaplin is quoted.
• Kelly Roskam wrote about the role of ERPOs in cases of domestic violence for the Bloomberg American Health Initiative.
• Recording available: Coalition to Stop Gun Violence and Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence webinar, The Path Forward: The Future of Gun Violence Prevention.
• Recording available: New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers webinar, Firearm Purchase and Storage During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
• Books that may be of interest published in 2020:
  • The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know (2nd Ed.) by Philip J. Cook and Kristin A. Goss
  • Weapon of Choice: Fighting Gun Violence While Respecting Gun Rights by Ian Ayers and Fredrick E. Vars
  • The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy by Chris Murphy
  • Too Many Times: How to End Gun Violence in a Divided America edited by Melville House
  • Why We Are Losing the War on Gun Violence in the United States edited by Marie Crandall, Stephanie Bonne, Jennifer Bronson, and Woodie Kessel
  • Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland by Jonathan M. Metzl

Judicial updates:

• On December 14, 2020, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari in Torres v. United States, a case from the 9th Circuit regarding an as-applied challenge to the felony firearm prohibition wherein the underlying criminal convictions in the case are aggravated DUI with a person under 15 in the vehicle and aggravated driving or actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs. Because the Supreme Court declined to take up the case, the ruling of the 9th Circuit, which found that persons convicted of felony offenses may not bring an as-applied Second Amendment challenge, stands.
• Folajtar v. Barr is now pending before the Supreme Court. The issue presented in the case originating in the 3rd Circuit is whether 922(g)(1) violates the Second Amendment as applied to an individual convicted of felony tax fraud.
• Holloway v. Barr is a case from the 3rd Circuit pending before the Supreme Court. The issue presented in the case is whether a lifetime firearms prohibition based on a nonviolent misdemeanor conviction violates the Second Amendment. The underlying criminal convictions in the case are two offenses for driving under the influence of alcohol. The offenses are classified under state law as misdemeanors, but disqualify an individual from purchasing or possessing firearms under 922(g)(1) because they carry a possible sentence of two years or more in prison.
• Mai v. United States is a case from the 9th Circuit pending before the Supreme Court. The issue presented in the case is whether 922(g)(4) – which prohibits persons who are “adjudicated mental defective” or “committed to a mental institution” violates the Second Amendment as-applied to an individual who was involuntarily committed over twenty years ago and has since been a mentally healthy, stable, and law-abiding individual.

Upcoming Events:

• Jan 12: Joyce Foundation webinar, The State of Gun Violence Research – Past, Present and Future.
• Jan 14: AFFIRM webinar, Rethink: Talking about Firearm Injury and Gun Violence.

Want to take a look back at the gun violence prevention research published in 2020? See our newsletter archive and follow us on twitter, where we share our research recaps each month. Until next time, stay safe, socially distanced, and masked, and have a happy New Year.