In a significant shift within the field of gun violence research, a new wave of diverse scholars is bringing fresh perspectives and personal experiences to tackle one of America’s most pressing public health issues. This change comes in the wake of renewed federal funding for gun violence studies, which had been largely stalled since 1995.
The impact of this diversity is profound, particularly in addressing health disparities. Black adults are 10 times more likely than their white counterparts to die by gun homicide, and Black children face nearly four times the risk of dying by gunfire compared to white children. These stark statistics underscore the importance of research that reflects the communities most affected by gun violence.
Nazsa Baker, a postdoctoral fellow at Rutgers’ New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, exemplifies this new generation of researchers. Her work, inspired by personal experiences with gun violence, focuses on the often-overlooked area of Black male survivorship in hospital-based violence intervention programs.
To support these emerging voices, Dr. Shani Buggs of UC Davis launched the Black and Brown Collective (above) last year. This network of about 30 Black and Latino gun violence researchers provides crucial support and community. As Dr. Joseph Richardson of the University of Maryland notes, “Black people have always existed in this space, we have been here. That’s why the Black and Brown Collective is so important because it’s providing the space for people who have historically been sidelined.”
This diversification of the field is leading to more comprehensive research on various forms of firearm violence, including interpersonal and domestic violence, which disproportionately affect women and people of color. As Baker puts it, “For a lot of us when we are doing this research, it’s personal.”
See “An Emerging Group of Researchers Is Changing Our Understanding of Gun Violence” (March 8, 2024)
