New Findings on Firearms Violence in the United States

Program

This webinar focuses on new research findings from NCGVR-funded projects on a diverse set of topics.

In our first presentation, Michelle Degli Esposti, Ph.D., explores the geographic and demographic disparities in firearm mortality rates across the United States over three decades. Highlighting significant regional differences in suicide and homicide rates, this research pinpoints geographical hot spots where firearm homicides and suicides have increased or decreased with unusual speed, an analysis that could help inform targeted prevention strategies and policies.

Next, Hannah Laqueur, Ph.D, presents an investigation into the movement of firearms from legal sales to criminal hands in California. By analyzing a vast dataset of crime guns and legal transactions, the study reveals the changing dynamics of criminal firearm commerce, including the rise of privately manufactured firearms, the role of theft and "dirty" dealers in supplying crime guns, and risk factors identifying firearms likely to be used in crimes.

In our final presentation, Bruce Taylor, Ph.D., discusses results of a survey of law enforcement agencies about violence against officers, including officer-involved shootings, and what predicts it. Survey responses showed that such violence is relatively rare, but that it affects agencies of all sizes across the country.

Presenters

Michelle Degli Esposti: County-Level Variation in Firearm Homicide Rates: Changing Trends and Spatial Patterns

Michelle Degli Esposti is a Research Assistant Professor at the Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention at the University of Michigan. Dr Degli Esposti’s research focuses on understanding the distribution and determinants of violence at the population level, drawing methods from both descriptive and causal epidemiology. She has published a series of papers mapping out temporal changes in the nature and spatial distribution of firearm-related mortality across the US. Another strand of her research uses advanced quasi-experimental methods to estimate the impacts of social interventions and policies in shaping—and changing—rates of violence. While Dr Degli Esposti’s current work focuses on the U.S., she is a global researcher spanning the U.S., UK, and Brazil, with continued research affiliations with the Department of Social Policy & Intervention at the University of Oxford, UK, and the Human Development and Violence Research (DOVE) Center, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil.

NCGVR-funded project: Variability in Assaultive, Unintentional, and Self-Gunshot Injury in U.S. States and State Policy Opportunities for Prevention

Hannah Laqueur: Trends and Sources of Crime Guns

Hannah Laqueur is an Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and core faculty in the Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP) and UC Center for Firearm Violence Research (UCFC). She holds a Ph.D. from Berkeley Law’s doctoral program in Jurisprudence & Social Policy, a Master’s degree in Biostatistics from Berkeley, and a Master’s in Public Policy & Administration from Columbia University. Her research includes work on gun purchasing and criminal gun markets, placed-based firearm carrying restrictions, and risk assessment and decision making in the criminal justice system.

NCGVR-funded project: Where Crime Guns Come From: Characterizing and Mapping Criminal Gun Markets

Bruce Taylor: Prevalence and Correlates of Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers in the United States: A National Portrait

Bruce Taylor is a Senior Fellow for NORC at the University of Chicago with over 25 years of experience in applied research and evaluation. His research explores the intersecting areas of violence, health and criminal justice and has conducted studies on violence prevention, victimization, substance use, police use-of-force and officer health issues. Dr. Taylor was a Co-Principal Investigator on three NCGVR-funded studies on police officers use of force (UOF) and violence against officers (VAO). He was also Principal Investigator on U.S. Department of Justice funded studies on police UOF and VAO.

NCGVR-funded project: A National Survey of Police Officer-Involved Firearm Shootings