The data gap in understanding America's firearm violence crisis
In short: For over two decades, federal research into preventing gun violence was remarkably sparse. Now, a massive surge in funding is finally attempting to address a public health crisis that has reached levels not seen since the early 1990s.
The United States has faced a significant lack of government-funded research on firearm violence prevention for approximately 25 years. While dedicated researchers made some progress during this period, the scale of investigation was disproportionate to the severity of the issue. This gap in knowledge is now being addressed by an unprecedented influx of capital. Since 2018, private philanthropy through the National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research has awarded over $21 million, while the federal government has committed $25 million annually since 2019.
The urgency for this research is underscored by alarming trends in firearm homicide and suicide rates. Firearm homicides saw sharp increases between 2019 and 2021, reaching levels comparable to the end of the crack cocaine epidemic in the early 1990s. These incidents are highly concentrated among Black people, who face firearm homicide rates estimated to be 10 times greater than those of white people. Furthermore, preliminary 2021 data indicates that firearm suicide rates in the US have reached their highest point in over 43 years.
Despite these trends, researchers face structural hurdles. Current efforts are hampered by substandard federal data collection and laws that prevent the government from sharing data with outside researchers. Notably, there has been no federal system for estimating state-level firearm ownership for more than 15 years—a stark contrast to existing systems that track behaviors like fruit juice consumption or seat belt use. While various interventions show promise, mixed results across different contexts make it difficult to justify large-scale public investments without more robust data.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Science and Gun Violence
- Also: Better data, less gun violence
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