September 2021

GOOD MORNING, CONSORTIUM MEMBERS AND FRIENDS,

As students across the country head back to school, parents and public health advocates are watching closely in the hopes that the return to in-person instruction doesn’t bring with it an uptick in COVID-19 cases – or school shootings. Rates of community gun violence have surged since the start of the pandemic, and firearm sales reached record numbers in 2020, meaning millions more young people now have access to firearms in their homes. The possibility of gun violence reaching into our schools and their surrounding neighborhoods is all too real.

While concerns about school and youth safety are well-founded, there is also reason for optimism. Efforts to address youth gun violence are happening locally. For example, in Philadelphia, the city’s new anti-violence expansion grants are available for community-based organizations focused on providing school safety programs for students. Research continues to advance in this area, too: see this month’s research recap at the end of this newsletter for more than 15 new papers related to school safety and youth firearm violence.

Speaking of the research recap, a highlight from this month’s new publications: the Western Journal of Emergency Medicine has a special issue on firearm violence injury and prevention. Some papers were featured in previous newsletters, but the whole issue is now available here.

Congressional/Federal updates

The Consortium, along with CSGV, has endorsed the Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act (H.R. 5035), introduced in the House on August 13th by Rep. Lauren Underwood. The Consortium was instrumental in bringing attention to lethal means safety counseling as an area for policy development, including a 2017 comprehensive report on the role of health care provider training programs, “Breaking Through Barriers: The Emerging Role of Healthcare Provider Training Programs in Firearm Suicide Prevention.” In the report, the Consortium made recommendations that if implemented, would “equip healthcare providers to deal tactfully, respectfully and directly with the issue of firearms and suicide.” This bill would raise awareness of youth suicide prevention and develop resources for lethal means safety counseling, including:
- Establishing grant programs that:
  - Provide funding for initiatives that offer youth suicide prevention and lethal means safety education, training, and resources to health care professionals.
  - Integrate lethal means safety and suicide prevention topics into curricula at health professional schools to ensure that future nurses, doctors, and mental and behavioral health care providers have received the education and training that will allow them to prevent lethal means injuries, deaths, and suicides among their patients.
- Creating a centralized hub to provide important lethal means safety and suicide prevention information to at-risk youth and their family members, health professional schools, and health care providers.
The Secure Background Checks Act of 2021 (H.R. 5080), which aims to close loopholes in the NICS Background Check System, was introduced on August 23rd by Rep. Joe Neguse.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Richard Blumenthal and Sheldon Whitehouse announced the introduction of the Accountability for Online Marketplaces Act to hold accountable online gun marketplaces that allow illegal gun sales to be conducted on their platforms. The legislation would ensure that websites like Armslist no longer enjoy blanket immunity and can be brought to justice for violations of law.

New resources

“Guns 101” resources for clinicians, researchers, advocates, and others:
- Tweetorial and webpage from the BulletPoints Project
- Video from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Prevention & Policy
Rockefeller Institute of Government’s policy brief, Policy Solutions to Address Mass Shootings
Everytown and the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) Project’s collaborative report, Armed Assembly: Guns, Demonstrations, and Political Violence in America
Everytown released an interactive calculator tool that estimates the economic cost of shootings at the local level, including the cost to taxpayers
Colorado Attorney General’s report, First-Year Implementation of Colorado Violence Prevention Act, the state’s extreme risk law
Recent books:
- Critical Mass: Understanding and Fixing the Social Roots of Mass Shootings in the United States by Dinur Blum and Christian Gonzalez Jaworski
- Lessons Learned From School Shootings: Perspectives from the United States of America by Scott Poland and Sara Ferguson
- Guns in America: Examining the Facts by Donald J. Campbell
- Understanding America’s Gun Culture edited by Lisa Fisher and Craig Hovey

Judicial updates

The Supreme Court announced they will hear oral arguments for NYSRPA v. Bruen, the most significant Second Amendment case since District of Columbia v. Heller, on November 3rd, 2021.
- Other important dates: The Response Brief is due on September 14th and Amicus Briefs in Support of New York are due on September 21st.
In Drummond v. Robinson Township, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s decision to throw out a case regarding zoning regulations that prevent the sale and use of certain firearms in a township. The Third Circuit concluded that the zoning law could possibly violate the Second Amendment, because the court could not readily determine how banning rim-fire rifles and requiring gun ranges to have nonprofit ownership was reasonably fit to protecting public health, safety, and welfare.

Media highlights

Gun Violence: America’s Other Epidemic – CBS News quoting Daniel Webster
In Chicago, Controversy Mounts Over the Use of Gunshot Detection Sensors – The Trace
‘Something has to be Done’: After Decades of Near-Silence from the CDC, the Agency’s Director is Speaking Up about Gun Violence – CNN
Why Mexico is Suing U.S. Gunmakers – The Daily podcast from the New York Times
Gun Violence Researchers are Making Up for 20 Years of Lost Time – JAMA Medical News and Perspectives, quoting Mark Rosenberg, Garen Wintemute, Emmy Betz, and Megan Ranney, among others
More Research Needed for Gun Violence Surge – National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Monitor
Man Shot 6 Times Waits More than a Week for Surgery After Hospital is Overwhelmed by COVID – Washington Post
Bill to Abolish State Pistol Permit Passes, but a Veto is Likely – NC Policy Watch quoting Daniel Webster
Community Solutions And Sistership – Brady United’s podcast featuring Sustain Equity Group’s Kayla Hicks
Latino and Black Victims Account for Nearly All of L.A.’s Surge in Homicides – Los Angeles Times
As with COVID, We Can Fight Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis – Op-ed in Albuquerque Journal by CSGV staff Lisa Geller

Upcoming events

September 20: Doctors for America’s webinar, Combating Racism in Healthcare – How to Connect with Communities in Trauma
October 4: Doctors for America’s webinar, Hospital Based Violence Intervention Programs – An Overview and Conversation with Trauma Experts
October 4-6: Temple University’s Center for Public Health Law Research’s 2021 Policy Surveillance Institute
November 12: University of Michigan Injury Prevention Center’s 2nd Annual Virtual Injury Prevention Center Research Symposium

Finally, the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence — the organization that manages and staffs the Consortium — is hiring, with new positions recently listed. Please share our career opportunities with your networks.

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, news, and updates throughout the month.

STUDIES

Special issue on firearm violence injury and prevention, edited by Saucedo C. (2021). Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vv5r9zm

Armstrong MJ, Moore K, Jacobson CE, Bedenfield N, Patel B, & Sullivan JL. (2021). Frequency of suicidal ideation and associated clinical features in Lewy body dementia. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2021.07.029

Baranauskas AJ. (2021). Racial sentiment and public support for arming teachers with guns in the United States. Race and Justice. https://doi.org/10.1177/21533687211038950

Blocher J. (2021). The biggest legal obstacle to gun regulation: State preemption laws, not the second amendment. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306325

Boine C, Caffrey K, & Siegel M. (2021). Who are gun owners in the United States? A latent class analysis of the 2019 National Lawful Use of Guns Survey. Sociological Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214211028619

Bordin IA, Handegård BH, Paula CS, Duarte CS, & Rønning JA. (2021). Home, school, and community violence exposure and emotional and conduct problems among low-income adolescents: The moderating role of age and sex. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-021-02143-4

Borg BA, Rabinak CA, & Marusak HA. (2021). Violence exposure and mental health consequences among urban youth. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02141-4

Brown D. (2021). The burn behind the bullet: Understanding black mothers’ experiences after losing a child to gun violence in Washington, DC-Baltimore city metropolitan region. Georgetown Scientific Research Journal. https://doi.org/10.48091/gsr.v1i2.20

Castillo C, Chang R, Glassman S, Jones G, Venkatachalam AM, Williams T, & Ifejika NL. (2021). Advocacy for the prevention and reduction of firearm-related injuries. PM&R. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmrj.12696

Cheng T. (2021). Social media, socialization, and pursuing legitimation of police violence*. Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12277

Cohen J. (2021). School safety and violence: Research and clinical understandings, trends, and improvement strategies. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps.1718

Copeland WE, Tong G, Gifford EJ, Easter MM, Shanahan L, Swartz MS, & Swanson JW. (2021). Childhood gun access, adult suicidality, and crime. Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-042291

Dodson N. (2020). To end gun violence against children, the firearms industry must be held accountable. Human Rights. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/huri46&div=49&id=&page=

Dorris L & Murphy AL. (2021). No more politics over people: The role of helping professions in the prevention of mass shootings and gun-related violence. Traumatology. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000350

Duncombe SL, Tanaka H, De Larochelambert Q, Schipman J, Toussaint JF, & Antero J. (2021). High hopes: Lower risk of death due to mental disorders and self-harm in a century-long US Olympian cohort compared with the general population. British Journal of Sports Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2020-102624

Eppler-Wolff N & Martin A. (2021). Creating safe schools by building safe relationships. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps.1723

Felix ED, Janson M, Fly J, & Powers J. (2021). Social-cognitive mediators of the relationship of media exposure to acute mass violence and distress among adolescents. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000580

Floyd AS, Lyons VH, Whiteside LK, Haggerty KP, Rivara FP, & Rowhani-Rahbar A. (2021). Barriers to recruitment, retention and intervention delivery in a randomized trial among patients with firearm injuries. Injury Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-021-00331-z

Fowler KA, Leavitt RA, Betz CJ, Yuan K, & Dahlberg LL. (2021). Examining differences between mass, multiple, and single-victim homicides to inform prevention: Findings from the National Violent Death Reporting System. Injury Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-021-00345-7

Gammell SP, Connell NM, & Huskey MG. (2021). A descriptive analysis of the characteristics of school shootings across five decades. American Journal of Criminal Justice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-021-09636-7

Gastineau KAB, Williams DJ, Hall M, Goyal MK, Wells J, Freundlich KL, Carroll AR, Browning WL, Doherty K, Fritz CQ, Frost PA, Kreth H, Plancarte C, & Barkin S. (2021). Pediatric firearm-related hospital encounters during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-050223

Gaston S, Shamserad F, & Huebner BM. (2021). “Every thought and dream a nightmare”: Violence and trauma among formerly imprisoned gang members. Criminal Justice and Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548211040099

Goldstein EV, Prater LC, & Wickizer TM. (2021). Preventing adolescent and young adult suicide: Do states with greater mental health treatment capacity have lower suicide rates? Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2021.06.020

Haque AF & Jorge E. (2021). When the kids get guns—the effects of lowering the minimum age of firearm possession in Alabama. Preventive Medicine Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101481

Higgins EM, Coffey BS, Fisher BW, Benitez I, & Swartz K. (2021). School safety or school criminalization? The typical day of a school resource officer in the United States. The British Journal of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azab075

Hink AB. (2021). Using state hospitalization databases to improve firearm injury data—a step in the right direction. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15807

Hoops KEM. (2021). Opening the door to a discussion on gun safety. JAMA Health Forum. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.1586

Hsu YT, Chen YW, Chang DC, Perez NP, Westfal ML, Hung YC, Kelleher CM, Masiakos PT, & Sacks CA. (2021). Annual incidence of hospitalization for nonfatal firearm-related injuries in New York From 2005 to 2016. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15713

Johnson BL, Beckworth K, Bhalakia A, DeMello A, & Naik-Mathuria B. (2021). Implementation of a firearm safety guidance training program for pediatric providers. Journal of Pediatric Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2021.07.016

Kafka JM, Moracco KE, Williams DS, & Hoffman CG. (2021). What is the role of firearms in nonfatal intimate partner violence? Findings from civil protective order case data. Social Science & Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114212

Kagawa RMC & Riley ED. (2021). Gun violence against unhoused and unstably housed women: A cross-sectional study that highlights links to childhood violence. Injury Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-021-00348-4

Kelley MS. (2021). Feminism and firearms: Gun ownership, gun carrying, and women’s empowerment. Sociological Perspectives. https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214211028603

Kowalski RM, Leary M, Hendley T, Rubley K, Chapman C, Chitty H, Carroll H, Cook A, Richardson E, Robbins C, Wells S, Bourque L, Oakley R, Bednar H, Jones R, Tolleson K, Fisher K, Graham R, Scarborough M,…Longacre M. (2021). K-12, college/university, and mass shootings: Similarities and differences. The Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2021.1900047

Lee J, Kanthawala S, Britt BC, Deavours DF, & Ott-Fulmore T. (2021). Prevalence of anger, engaged in sadness: Engagement in misinformation, correction, and emotional tweets during mass shootings. Online Information Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-03-2021-0121

Logan TK & Lynch KR. (2021). Increased risks or peace of mind? Exploring fear, victimization, and safety strategies among women planning to get a gun. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211035865

Lynch KR, Jackson DB, & Logan TK. (2021). Coercive control, stalking, and guns: Modeling service professionals’ perceived risk of potentially fatal intimate partner gun violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260519839419

Magee LA, Ranney ML, Fortenberry JD, Rosenman M, Gharbi S, & Wiehe SE. (2021). Identifying nonfatal firearm assault incidents through linking police data and clinical records: Cohort study in Indianapolis, Indiana, 2007–2016. Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106605

Martínez-Alés G, Gimbrone C, Rutherford C, Kandula S, Olfson M, Gould MS, Shaman J, & Keyes KM. (2021). Role of firearm ownership on 2001–2016 trends in U.S. firearm suicide rates. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2021.05.026

Mayer MJ, Nickerson AB, & Jimerson SR. (2021). Preventing school violence and promoting school safety: Contemporary scholarship advancing science, practice, and policy. School Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/2372966X.2021.1949933

McLeod RS, Moore EE, Crozier JA, Civil ID, Ahmed N, Bulger EM, & Stewart RM. (2021). A public health approach to prevent firearm related injuries and deaths. Annals of Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000005056

Molina EG, Bare K, Zinter K, & McMahon S. (2021). Assessing instrumental weapons violence against teachers. DePaul Discoveries. https://via.library.depaul.edu/depaul-disc/vol10/iss1/11

Muir MSP. (2021). Gun violence: A chronic disease affecting American youth. Pediatric Nursing. www.proquest.com/openview/555caf44800aaa1472472847f868e342/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47659

Mulcahy LB, Goyal MK, & Cohen J. (2021). Documentation of firearm safety screening during emergency department visits for assault-related injury. Health Promotion Practice. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399211029340

Nicholson D & Allely CS. (2021). Exploring female involvement in acts of terrorism and mass shootings: A systematic review. Journal of Criminal Psychology. http://www.emeraldinsight.com/loi/jcp

Onat I, Guler A, Kula S, & Bastug MF. (2021). Fear of terrorism and fear of violent crimes in the United States: A comparative analysis. Crime & Delinquency. https://doi.org/10.1177/00111287211036130

Pallin R, Wintemute GJ, & Kravitz-Wirtz N. (2021). Firearm practices, perceptions of safety, and opinions on injury prevention strategies among California adults. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.19146

Parrott DJ, Halmos MB, Stappenbeck CA, & Moino K. (2021). Intimate partner aggression during the COVID-19 pandemic: Associations with stress and heavy drinking. Psychology of Violence. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/vio0000395

Poulson M, Neufeld MY, Dechert T, Allee L, & Kenzik KM. (2021). Historic redlining, structural racism, and firearm violence: A structural equation modeling approach. The Lancet Regional Health – Americas. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2021.100052

Presser MJ, Quiroz HJ, Perez EA, Sola JE, Namias N, & Thorson CM. (2021). Comparing fatal child abuse involving biological and surrogate parents. The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0000000000003374

Quinn DA. (2021). A family health impact analysis of current United States gun policy. National Council on Family Relations. https://www.ncfr.org/policy/research-and-policy-briefs/family-health-impact-us-gun-policy

Rajan S. (2021). School safety and violence: Drawing on a public health approach. International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps.1726

Ramchand R, Colpe L, Claassen C, Brinton S, Carr C, McKeon R, & Schoenbaum M. (2021). Prioritizing improved data and surveillance for suicide in the United States in response to COVID-19. American Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306258

Ranjan S, Shah AK, Strange CC, & Stillman K. (2021). Hospital-based violence intervention: Strategies for cultivating internal support, community partnerships, and strengthening practitioner engagement. Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Research. https://doi.org/10.1108/JACPR-03-2021-0590

Richards JE., Kuo E, Stewart C, Bobb JF, Mettert KD, Rowhani-Rahbar A, Betz ME, Parrish R, Whiteside U, Boggs JM, & Simon GE. (2021). Self-reported access to firearms among patients receiving care for mental health and substance use. JAMA Health Forum. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.1973

Ruch DA, Heck KM, Sheftall AH, Fontanella CA, Stevens J, Zhu M, Horowitz LM, Campo JV, & Bridge JA. (2021). Characteristics and precipitating circumstances of suicide among children aged 5 to 11 years in the United States, 2013-2017. JAMA Network Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15683

Ruoppila S. (2021). Hiding the unwanted: A university-level campus carry policy. Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00740-5

Sanko A, Lawter D, Anselmo D, Castro T, Coggins R, Cloward G, Davenport E, & Padilla J. (2021). Guns in the sky: Nevada’s firearm laws, 1 October, and next steps. Nevada Law Journal Forum. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/nvljform5&div=5&id=&page=

Schwartz DS, Thompson J, Locrotondo T, & Heggers S. (2021). Initial acuity of firearm injuries in the United States: Are civilian injuries similar to combat casualty statistics. Internal and Emergency Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-021-02821-w

Steadman JL. (2021). Ethical and legal considerations when patients disclose knowledge of a weapon in a school. Journal of Health Service Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42843-021-00040-7

Tergesen M. (2021). Marching for our lives, not yours: An analysis of frames, news coverage, and the March for Our Lives movement. Sojourners Undergraduate Journal of Sociology. https://doi.org/10.14288/soj.v12i1.195983

Vidal XM, Páez RA, & Shields TG. (2021). Identity and the racialized politics of violence in gun regulation policy preferences. Social Science Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.13023

Wallace LN. (2021). Associations between gun storage practices and parenting practices: A Pennsylvania study. Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02041-y

Williams MF. (2021). Gun control and gun rights: A conceptual framework for analyzing public policy issues in technical and professional communication. Technical Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2021.1963487