With funding from the Joyce Foundation, we formed the National Research Collaborative on Firearm Violence, which met for 2 days in June 2005. Further, methodological problems hamper efforts to evaluate policies and to gain consensus on effective strategies to lower gun crime and violence.Īs researchers, we may agree or disagree with aspects of the report's conclusions, and still accept the challenge to build the empirical foundation of the violence-prevention field. The report indicates that considerable gaps in research and data make it difficult to draw cause-and-effect relationships between firearms and violence. 6 The report assessed the strengths and limitations of the existing research on gun violence, and recommended ways to improve the empirical basis for policy discussions. To inform policy makers about the existing evidence, a distinguished committee of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a landmark report in December 2004, Firearms and violence: a critical review. How many deaths, injuries and crimes would have occurred if a gun were not present at the site of the crime? How often is a gun used to deter crime or avert injury? What interventions can reduce firearm-related violence? 5 These statistics describe the significant impact of firearm-related violence, but do not specify the effects of firearms on violence. 4 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that in 2003, firearms were used in 67% of murders, 42% of robberies and 19% of assaults reported to police. 3 More than 65 000 people sustained non-fatal gunshot injuries. In 2003, nearly 30 000 people in the US died from gunshot wounds, including 16 859 by suicide and 11 599 by homicide. 2 The US has the highest rate of firearm violence among industrialized democracies, with firearms accounting for the majority of homicides and suicides. 1, 2 One study estimated that the global burden of firearm mortality is between 196 000 and 229 000 annually.
Recent reports have highlighted the global impact of non-conflict-related firearm violence.