Johns Hopkins Center for
Gun Policy and Research
About
The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research (JHCGPR) has achieved a national reputation for our high-quality research, analysis, and
innovation to advance the prevention of gun violence. Founded in 1995 by Professor Stephen Teret, JD, MPH, the Center’s multidisciplinary faculty
study the effects of gun laws, the implementation and enforcement of gun policies, law enforcement strategies, and community prevention efforts.
JHCGPR faculty specialize in synthesizing research and conducting policy analyses to inform policy debates about how to reduce gun violence.
They are frequently invited to advise federal, state, and local officials and to testify at congressional and state hearings.
In addition to publishing articles in leading scientific journals, the Center produces numerous resources, including fact sheets and policy analyses
and works closely with the media and others to disseminate our findings to reach the general public and decision-makers.
Many of the leading gun violence prevention researchers in the U.S.– both inside and outside of our Center—have received their education at Johns
Hopkins. Our faculty are training the next generation of gun violence prevention researchers.
Our Research
Our Impact
Our Center applies strong
research methods and public
health principles to answer the
most pressing questions in gun
violence prevention.
Our Center’s greatest strength is working collaboratively with
partners and decision-makers in order to close the gap between
research, practice and policy.
Center focus areas include: gun
trafficking, domestic violence
and guns, keeping guns from
youth, smart guns, handgun
licensing and universal background checks, public opinion polling,
mental health and guns, and efforts with Baltimore officials to
promote effective gun violence prevention strategies and programs
in our community.
Specifically, our research has demonstrated that:
• Domestic violence restraining orders that include gun restrictions
reduce intimate partner homicides.1
• Child access prevention laws (e.g., safe gun storage laws) reduce
suicides and unintentional shooting deaths of youth.2
• More than one-third of accidental shootings in the U.S. could
be prevented if the guns involved were personalized (also called
smart or child-proof guns).3
• Increased accountability of gun dealers reduces the flow of illegal
guns into communities.4
• The majority of Americans – including gun owners – support a
number of common sense gun safety policies such as universal
background checks.5
Case Study I: Studies by Center faculty on changes in gun laws in
Connecticut and Missouri6-8 find that requiring universal background
checks and permits to purchase (PTP) handguns are among the most
successful tools we have to reduce homicides, suicides, shootings of
law enforcement, and the overall flow of guns to criminals. The Center
developed comprehensive communications and media outreach
strategies for these studies, yielding thousands of stories and
editorials/opinion pieces.
• The study results were used to push
back against proposed bills in North
Carolina and Iowa which would have
repealed their universal background
check and PTP laws.
• The research was the basis for a
national grassroots campaign by
Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence
to mobilize and educate faith-based
leaders around the country on the
importance of the policy.
• The research led to the introduction of federal legislation (House &
Senate) which seeks to expand PTP to more states.
• President Obama cited the research in his address to the nation
on January 5, 2016 when making the case to the American people
about the importance of universal background checks to reduce
gun violence.
Center for Gun Policy and Research
624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205
www.jhsph.edu/gunpolicy
For more information:
Alicia Samuels, communications director:
[email protected]
Case Study II: Center faculty have been instrumental in the work
of the Consortium for Risk-Based Firearm Policy. The Consortium
identifies gaps in current gun violence prevention policies and offers
solutions for rational, effective, and evidence-based gun policies.
Case Study III: Just weeks after the Sandy Hook school shooting in
Connecticut, the Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg School
of Public Health brought together more than 20 global leaders in
gun policy and violence for the Summit on Reducing Gun Violence
in America. Contributors met immediately after the Summit to distill
the best research and data into a set of clear and comprehensive
policy recommendations to prevent gun violence.
• The Summit drew over 450 participants and 22 on-site media
outlets, and was also webcast and broadcast by C-SPAN. In
the days following the Summit, over 100 original stories were
published in international, national and local outlets. The Summit
hashtag #JHUGUNPOLICY trended internationally during the
Summit yielding 32 million+ impressions.
• The Consortium released two sets of recommendations (federal,
state) to inform evidence-based policymaking, particularly with
respect to gun violence and dangerous behaviors. Briefings were
held on Capitol Hill for Congressional offices. In response to
stakeholder requests from around the country, the Consortium
has participated in more than a dozen educational forums and
produced tailored state reports and recommendations.
• On September 30, 2014 Governor Jerry Brown signed into
law California AB 1014. This law allows family members and
law enforcement officers to seek a gun violence restraining
order (GVRO) against people who pose an immediate threat
of harm to themselves or others. The law, which took effect
on January 1, 2016, is consistent with one of the Consortium’s
recommendations and allows individuals to petition the courts to
temporarily prohibit an individual from purchasing or possessing
firearms for the duration of the GVRO.
• Center faculty continue to work as part of the Consortium to
advance translation of the evidence base into policy at the state
and federal levels.
“For more than 20 years, we
have been delivering on our
goal to bring public health
perspectives and expertise to
the complex policy issues
related to gun violence
prevention.”
- Daniel Webster, ScD, MPH
Director
• Many of the recommendations were included
in a series of proposals on gun violence
prevention announced by President Obama
following the Summit.
• Two weeks after the Summit, the Johns
Hopkins University Press published Reducing
Gun Violence in America: Informing Policy
with Evidence and Analysis, which compiles
all the findings and views presented at the
summit. Copies of the book were sent to every
member of Congress, hundreds of journalists,
advocates and other key policymakers.
• Center director Dr. Daniel Webster testified before the Senate
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Human Rights
and the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on the importance of
gun violence prevention policies in reducing gun-related injuries
and deaths.
• Following the Summit, gun laws in more than 20 states were
strengthened.
1. April M. Zeoli & Daniel W. Webster. Effects of domestic violence policies, alcohol
taxes and police staffing levels on intimate partner homicide in large U.S. cities. Injury
Prevention. Apr 2010; 16(2): 90-95.
2. Webster DW, Vernick JS, Zeoli AM, Manganello JA. Association Between YouthFocused Firearm Laws and Youth Suicides. JAMA. 2004;292(5):594-601.
3. J S Vernick, M O’Brien, L M Hepburn, S B Johnson, D W Webster, S W Hargarten.
Unintentional and undetermined firearm related deaths: a preventable death analysis
for three safety devices. Inj Prev 2003;9:4 307-311.
4. Daniel W. Webster, Jon S. Vernick, Maria T. Bulzacchelli, Katherine A. Vittes. Temporal
Association between Federal Gun Laws and the Diversion of Guns to Criminals in
Milwaukee. Journal of Urban Health 2012: Volume 89, Issue 1, pp 87-97
5. Colleen L. Barry, Ph.D., M.P.P., Emma E. McGinty, M.S., Jon S. Vernick, J.D., M.P.H.,
and Daniel W. Webster, Sc.D., M.P.H. After Newtown — Public Opinion on Gun Policy
and Mental Illness. N Engl J Med 2013: 68:1077-1081.
6. Daniel Webster, Cassandra Kercher Crifasi, Jon S. Vernick. Effects of the Repeal of
Missouri’s Handgun Purchaser Licensing Law on Homicide. Journal of Urban Health:
April 2014, Volume 91, Issue 2, pp 293-302.
7. Kara E. Rudolph, Elizabeth A. Stuart, Jon S. Vernick, and Daniel W. Webster.
Association Between Connecticut’s Permit-to-Purchase Handgun Law and
Homicides. American Journal of Public Health: August 2015, Vol. 105, p9-e54.
8. Cassandra K. Crifasi, John Speed Meyers, Jon S. Vernick, Daniel W.Webster. Effects of
changes in permit-to-purchase handgun laws in Connecticut and Missouri on suicide
rates. Preventive Medicine 2015: 79; p43-49.