New study looks at attitudes towards political violence

A small segment of the U.S. population considers violence, including lethal violence, to be usually or always justified to advance political objectives. This is according to newly published research from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP).

Studying political violence as a public health issue

In this issue: 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. 

KCRA interviews Garen Wintemute after Donald Trump's attempted assassination

There are growing concerns about political violence after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.

In this interview with KCRA's Brittany Hope, Dr. Garen Wintemute shares the findings from annual surveys on support for and willingness to engage in political violence.

Study suggests gun-free zones do not attract mass shootings

UC Davis Health News covered the publication of new CVP research that used a unique study design to compare the risk of active shootings in gun-free zones as compared to gun-allowing establishments. “After accounting for matched pairs, our analyses showed that active shootings were 62.5% less likely to occur in gun-free establishments than in gun-allowing places,” said Paul Reeping, lead author of the study and CVP postdoctoral scholar.

New funding for violence prevention research in California

The California Firearm Violence Research Center has awarded nearly $225,000 in grants to investigators studying gun violence exposure among adolescents, intimate partner violence and sex trafficking. 

The 2024 funded projects are:

Sacramento’s first comprehensive trauma recovery center to open at UC Davis Health

UC Davis Health is opening the first comprehensive trauma recovery center in Sacramento. The UC Davis CAARE Diagnostic and Treatment Center will establish the new center this summer, thanks to a nearly $1.2 million grant from the California Victim Compensation Board. CAARE stands for Child and Adolescent Abuse Resource and Evaluation.

$3M Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant to fund gun violence research

The grant will support studies conducted by the Black & Brown Collective, a multidisciplinary network of several institutions co-founded by Shani Buggs. Buggs is the principal investigator for the award.

How firearms move from legal purchase to criminal use

“Tracking the movement of firearms from legal purchase to use in crimes can help inform prevention of firearm injuries and deaths,” explained Hannah S. Laqueur, senior author of the study. Laqueur is an associate professor in the UC Davis Health Department of Emergency Medicine.

Gun characteristics associated with weapons being recovered at a crime include:

Violence prevention study wins top journal award

Garen Wintemute, director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP), is the recipient of the Jess Kraus Award for a major research paper he authored on political violence.

What we can learn from the 2023 Lunar New Year shootings

What was supposed to be a time of happiness and optimism for a new beginning was ruptured by tragedy and terror. In late January 2023, two horrific mass shootings targeted Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, California.