A new generation of academic researchers is determined to cast a microscope on gun violence, a subject that has been shielded from scrutiny by Congress, says the Washington Post. After a two-decade recruiting drought, gun researchers say they are suddenly seeing a wave of young scientists entering their field — an unforeseen consequence of recent mass shootings. And unlike past generations, the new scientists appear undeterred by the field’s lack of funding, dearth of data and hostile political climate. The new contingent has brought energy and fresh approaches to a beleaguered, intractable domain, longtime experts say. Their work coincides with a resurgence of gun control activism — led by the teenage Parkland student survivors who mounted this weekend’s March for Our Lives — as well as with increased interest from private foundations and state-level governments in funding such research.
Tpublished March 1 by a Harvard physician and an economics PhD student — found a 20 percent nationwide drop in injuries from firearms whenever thousands of gun owners gathered for NRA meetings. See also: Three Universities Launch National Database to Track School Shootings.
he new generation is coming from many disciplines — economics, statistics, medicine, law and epidemiology. That diversity has yielded innovative approaches. One study — published in December by two Wellesley College economists — used data from Google searches, background checks for gun sales and death records to suggest that the intense debate over gun laws after the Sandy Hook shootings led to increased gun sales, which then led to a sharp increase in accidental gun deaths. Neither economist had worked on gun issues before. Another study —