On December 14, 2012, a 20-year-old man shot his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, and opened fire. He killed 20 children (six- and seven-year-olds) and six adults.

In the aftermath of the shooting, calls for legislation aimed at limiting access to firearms resulted in what’s now become a predictable post-mass-murder event: people bought lots of guns.

…

NRA lobbying also led congress to cut the CDC budget by $2.6 million — the same amount as the budget of the the centers’ gun violence research program, as Philip Cook and John Donohue noted in a public policy analysis published alongside the new study in Science.

But Cook and Donohue wrote that research on gun deaths is improving despite these obstacles and lack of federal funding, thanks to support from nonprofit foundations, states like California, and universities.

“The good news, often lost in the well-justified complaints about the lack of federal funding, deserves greater recognition,” they wrote.

…

Innovative researchers, a spike in interest from journals, and support from institutions aside from the federal government are all helping researchers understand how policies affect gun violence, according to Cook and Donohue.

…

Analyses have also been conducted on “right to carry” laws, which require states to issue concealed-carry permits to anyone who is allowed to own guns and can meet minimum conditions (as opposed to holding concealed carry status to stricter standards). According to Cook and Donohue, such laws increase the rate of firearm homicides by 9% when state-by-state homicide rates are compared.

…

“The scope and quality of gun-related research is growing, with clear implications for the policy debate,” Cook and Donohue wrote.

Read More