100 Critical Questions for Gun Violence Research

The Joyce Foundation released a new report in January 2021 on the next generation of gun violence prevention research, identifying new paths of inquiry into reducing gun deaths and injuries in America.

The report, "The Next 100 Questions: A Research Agenda for Ending Gun Violence," outlines key areas of focus for public and private sector efforts to build the science of gun violence prevention with actionable findings for policy makers and practitioners over the next five years. The report was written in collaboration with an advisory panel of scientific experts and includes input from dozens of researchers in the field.

Against the backdrop of a national surge of gun violence and gun purchasing during the COVID-19 pandemic, the report arrives at a moment of optimism for gun violence research efforts. Congress recently renewed $25 million in funding for those efforts, and the incoming federal administration has committed to comprehensively addressing gun violence as a public health epidemic.

The renewed federal funding into gun violence research is a good start, but there is much more to learn about reducing gun deaths and injuries in the U.S. The report identifies key questions in 10 dimensions of gun violence:

1) Firearm suicide
2) Community-based gun violence
3) Intimate partner violence
4) Shootings by law enforcement
5) Mass shootings
6) Unintentional shootings
7) Impacts of lawful gun ownership
8) Gun access during high-risk periods
9) Racial disparities and the criminal justice system
10) Firearm-related technology.

The Joyce Foundation is a nonpartisan private foundation that invests in public policies and strategies to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region. Through our Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform program, the Foundation has supported research and policy change to reduce gun violence for more than 25 years.

Questions about this report can be addressed to [email protected].