WASHINGTON -- A new report from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council proposes priorities for a research agenda to improve understanding of the public health aspects of gun-related violence, including its causes, health burden, and possible interventions.  The committee that wrote the report said significant progress can be achieved in three to five years through a research program that addresses five high-priority areas: the characteristics of gun violence, risk and protective factors, prevention and other interventions, gun safety technology, and the influence of video games and other media. The report stems from executive orders issued by President Obama in January 2013 directing federal agencies to improve knowledge of the causes of firearm violence, interventions that might prevent it, and strategies to minimize its public health burden.  One of these executive orders charged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with identifying the most pressing firearm-related violence research needs.  In turn, CDC and the CDC Foundation asked IOM and the Research Council to recommend a research agenda on the public health aspects of firearm-related violence.  The committee determined potential research topics by surveying previous relevant research, receiving public input, and using expert judgment.  It was not asked to consider the amount and sources of funding required to carry out the research agenda and did not specify the methodologies that should be used to address the topics. "The complexity and frequency of gun-related violence combined with its impact on the health and safety of the nation's residents make it a topic of considerable public health importance," said Alan Leshner, chair of the study committee and CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  "Therefore, when developing its agenda, the committee took a public health approach that focused on gun violence problems associated with significant levels of injuries and fatalities.  Although this research agenda is an initial, not all-encompassing set of questions, it could help better define the causes and prevention of firearm violence in order to develop effective policies to reduce its occurrence and impact in the U.S.  Similar approaches to public health problems have produced successes in lowering tobacco use, accidental poisoning, and motor vehicle fatalities." The committee said this public health research agenda should be integrated with research conducted from criminal justice and other perspectives to provide a much fuller knowledge base, as no single agency or research strategy could provide all the answers.  For the five research areas, the committee identified the following key research topics:  

• Characteristics of gun violence
• Characterize the scope of and motivations for gun acquisition, ownership, and use and how they are distributed across subpopulations.
• Characterize differences in nonfatal and fatal gun use across the U.S.
• Risk and protective factors
• Identify factors associated with youth having access to, possessing, and carrying guns.
• Evaluate the potential risks and benefits of having a firearm in the home under a variety of circumstances and settings.
• Improve understanding of risk factors that influence the probability of firearm violence in specific high-risk physical locations.
• Firearm violence prevention and other interventions
• Improve understanding of whether interventions intended to diminish the illegal carrying of firearms reduce firearm violence.
• Improve understanding of whether reducing criminal access to legally purchased guns reduces firearm violence.  
• Improve understanding of the effectiveness of actions directed at preventing access to firearms by violence-prone individuals.
• Determine the degree to which various childhood education or prevention programs reduce firearm violence in childhood and later in life.
• Explore whether programs to alter physical environments in high-crime areas decrease firearm violence.
• Gun safety technology
• Identify the effects of different technological approaches to reduce firearm-related injury and death.
• Examine past consumer experiences with accepting safety technologies to inform the development and uptake of new gun safety technologies.
• Explore individual state and international policy approaches to gun safety technology for applicability to the United States as a whole.
• Influence of video games and other media
• Examine the relationship between exposure to media violence and real-life violence.

The study was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with the Foundation's support originating from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, The California Endowment, The Joyce Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, one anonymous entity, and two additional donors whose agreements have not been finalized with the CDC Foundation.  Established under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council provide independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, the private sector, and the public.  The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies.  A committee roster follows.  Contacts: Jennifer Walsh, Senior Media Relations OfficerChelsea Dickson, Media Relations AssistantOffice of News and Public Information202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Pre-publication copies of Priorities for a Public Health Research Agenda to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242.  Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above). INSTITUTE OF MEDICINEandNATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCILDivision of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education Committee on Priorities for a Public Health Research Agenda to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D. (chair)CEO and Executive Publisher of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceWashington, D.C. Louis Arcangeli, M.A.E.Adjunct ProfessorGeorgia State UniversityAtlanta Alfred Blumstein, Ph.D.J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems and   Operations ResearchH. John Heinz III College of Public Policy and   Information Systems, andProfessor of Engineering and Public PolicyCarnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh C. Hendricks Brown, Ph.D.ProfessorCenter for Family StudiesDepartment of Epidemiology and Public Health, andDirectorPrevention Science and Methodology GroupMiller School of MedicineUniversity of MiamiMiami Donald Carlucci, Ph.D.ChiefAnalysis and Evaluation Technology DivisionU.S. Department of the ArmyPicatinny ArsenalRockaway Township, N.J. Rhonda Cornum, M.D., Ph.D.Director ofHealth StrategyTechWerksNorth Middletown, Ky. Paul K. Halverson, Ph.D.Founding Dean and ProfessorRichard M. Fairbanks School of Public HealthIndiana UniversityIndianapolis Stephen W. Hargarten, M.D., M.P.H.Professor and ChairDepartment of Emergency Medicine;DirectorInjury Research Center; andAssociate Dean of Global HealthMedical College of WisconsinMilwaukee Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D.McNeil Family Professor of Health Care PolicyHarvard Medical SchoolBoston Gary Kleck, Ph.D.Professor of CriminologyCollege of Criminology and Criminal JusticeFlorida State UniversityTallahassee John A. Rich, M.D., M.P.H.Professor and ChairDepartment of Health Management and PolicySchool of Public HealthDrexel UniversityPhiladelphia Jeffrey W. Runge, M.D.PresidentBiologue Inc.Chapel Hill, N.C. Susan B. Sorenson, Ph.D.Professor of Social Policy and Practice and Health and SocietiesUniversity of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia David Vlahov, Ph.D., M.S.Dean and Professor of Community Health SystemsSchool of Nursing, andProfessor of Epidemiology and BiostatisticsSchool of MedicineUniversity of CaliforniaSan Francisco STAFF Patrick Kelley, M.D., Dr.PH.
Study Director