Policy Development

We study political violence as a public health issue, and in 2022, we launched an annual, nationally representative survey to explore personal willingness to engage in political violence. With strongly contested elections just weeks away, we’d like to share what we’ve learned. 

In this issue: Research is at the forefront of what we do, and we are constantly looking for ways to share findings and inform the public. This past month, two VPRP faculty wrote about the implications of their research as they relate to current events. Both op-eds are on the short side, and we invite you to give them a read!  

Garen Wintemute, MD, MPH, wrote a chapter on firearm violence and policies to address firearm violence in a report by the Aspen Health Strategy Group. 

Click here for the full report by the Aspen Health Strategy Group.

Amy Barnhorst, MD, co-authored a report led by The Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy and the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on policy recommendations to address alcohol misuse and gun violence.

Key policy recommendations were as follows:

Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, served as an expert for a report by the Joyce Foundation to address gun violence and its disparities in the United States.

The Joyce Foundation lists the following recommendations, summarized in brief, as follows:

Once again, the headlines are dominated by a gruesome mass shooting, this time resulting in the deaths of 19 school children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, right on the heels of the white supremacist attack in a Buffalo, New York supermarket that killed 10 people. Public mass shootings have profound impacts on survivors, families, and communities of victims, and the wider public's feelings of safety.

“As a public health researcher and the leader of the nation’s largest community development organization, we are making an urgent call for locally led, anti-racist approaches to stopping the gunfire that for years has ripped through our communities...” Continue reading

Shani Buggs, PhD, MPH, co-wrote a report, alongside members of the John Jay College Research Advisory Group on Preventing and Reducing Community Violence, summarizing research on policies and programs known to reduce community violence without relying on police. This report was requested by and submitted to Arnold Ventures.

Seven key strategies identified by the group were: