After Congress restored federal funding for gun violence research in 2019, researchers rejoiced.
For the first time in decades, Congress began allocating $25 million annually to the CDC and the National Institutes of Health to revive long-stalled gun violence research.
As of 2024, at least $137 million has been distributed across 127 projects since 2020.
Since President Donald Trump returned to office, federal support for gun violence research has faced renewed uncertainty. Last month, The Trace reported that at least $100 million in federal grants for gun violence and public safety research had been disrupted or canceled.
Funding cuts revive long-standing research gaps
Firearm violence researchers are once again struggling to secure funding for their work. A relatively new research society is striving to help cover some of the critical gaps in research and funding.
The Research Society for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms is a network of scientists and practitioners who conduct and advance research to inform the prevention of and responses to firearm-related harms.
Founded in 2023, the society seeks to “address a critical gap in research and resources addressing firearm-related harms, which remains a significant public health crisis,” according to the group’s strategic plan.
The nonpartisan organization supports research on firearm-related harm prevention across a a wide range of disciplines and approaches, including “firearm injuries in all forms (e.g., suicide, homicide, unintentional, mass shootings); firearm injuries across the lifespan and from the individual to population level; and approaches ranging from individual behavior change, broader societal policies, clinical and policy, and firearm violence treatment and prevention,” according to its website.
The organization touts itself as the only professional society dedicated specifically to firearm-related harms research. It also strives to address the critical funding gaps in firearm violence research.
That work has implications not only for researchers, but also for reporters covering gun violence research.
How this resource benefits journalists
One of the society’s main functions is its annual conference that draws together hundreds of researchers across all kinds of disciplines. It’s also a good starting point for journalists looking to benefit from this resource.
The topics covered during sessions at the recent conference in November would also be useful for health care journalists seeking story ideas. Here are some examples:
- In one session, “ERPO Navigators in the Hospital Workflow: A Clinical Perspective on Gun Violence Prevention Consults,” two doctors discussed the importance of extreme risk protection orders from a clinical perspective and shared their potential use cases in hospitals.
- Another presentation, “Healing the Healers: Exploring the Impacts of Behavioral Health Support and Training on Community Violence Intervention Workers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing,” examined the negative effects of stress and trauma and a program designed to mitigate further harm.
- In “Implementing Firearm Injury Prevention in Trauma Centers: A Multi-Site Protocol for the ACTFAST Program,” trauma clinicians, pediatric providers, injury prevention specialists, and health system leaders discussed how pediatric trauma centers can serve as critical access points for firearm injury prevention.
The full conference agenda is available here.
The conference’s speakers would represent a strong pool of potential sources from advocacy organizations, research universities and major health systems. A full list of speakers is available here.
Journalists can also stay up to date on the society’s work by signing up for its listserv.
