GOOD AFTERNOON, CONSORTIUM MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE CONSORTIUM,

2020 kicked off to an exciting start for the Consortium! On January 9th, the Consortium steering committee convened with select guests and the guidance of many stakeholders, hosted by the Ed Fund, to explore contemporary issues related to extreme risk protection order policy and implementation. Since the Consortium’s original recommendation in 2013 for states to enact extreme risk protection orders (originally called gun violence restraining orders), this evidence-based policy has changed the national gun violence prevention policy landscape. The Consortium is again weighing in with updated recommendations to address questions that have arisen and provide evidence-based guidance for advocates, lawmakers, and stakeholders working to enact and implement extreme risk protection orders in their communities. Thank you to all who contributed to the meeting and report review process. We look forward to sharing the final result in the coming weeks.

Hot off the press: On January 30, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics released 2018 mortality data, and today, January 31, the Ed Fund released an initial report, Gun Violence in America, 2018 Data Brief, based on these data. The current release focuses on raw numbers of fatalities and does not include rates; as such, the Ed Fund’s brief will be reissued when more comprehensive data become publicly available, including age-adjusted rates, demographics, and state-by-state breakdowns. Major findings based on the 2018 data currently released include:

• 39,740 Americans died by gun violence in 2018, which is 33 fewer than in 2017. In other words, gun violence death totals remained relatively steady from 2017 to 2018.
• An average of 109 people died by gun violence each day in 2018, bringing the most recent five-year average (2014-2018) to 103 gun deaths every day.
• 13,958 Americans were murdered by firearm in 2018 — more than 38 people every day. While firearm homicides have increased over the last decade, 2018 registered a notable decrease of 584 deaths as compared to 2017.
• 24,432 Americans died by firearm suicide in 2018 — 67 people every day. This marks an increase of 578 deaths compared to 2017 and the first time annual firearm suicides exceeded 24,000, continuing a trend of annual increases in firearm suicide deaths since 2006.
• 458 people died by unintentional firearm injuries in 2018 — more than 1 person every day. Unintentional firearm deaths have decreased over the past decade.
• 539 people died by legal intervention by firearm in 2018 — more than 1 person every day. Note that this is likely an undercount.
• 353 firearm deaths were documented in 2018 for which the intent was undetermined — nearly 1 person every day.

For another delve into data, the non-partisan and objective research organization NORC at the University of Chicago released a new report on firearms data infrastructure, The State of Firearms Data in 2019; multiple Consortium members serve on the expert panel that developed the report.

In case you missed it, our December 2019 newsletter featured a look back at the Consortium’s accomplishments since its founding in 2013. That and more can be found in our newsletter archive and on our twitter feed! Finally, don’t forget to email us your updates so we can amplify and highlight the gun violence prevention work you’re doing. This month’s research recap is below.