Turning the tide with gun violence prevention
Pictured Above: Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signs legislation to enable judges to order people to temporarily give up their firearms if they are found to pose an immediate danger, one of more than 200 bills he signed on Tuesday, April 24, 2018, in Annapolis, MD. Hogan also signed a bill to ban bump stocks, which can increase a semi-automatic rifle's firing rate, as well as a bill to require conviction domestic abuser to surrender guns to law enforcement or a firearms dealer. (AP Photo/Brian Witte)
April 27, 2018
Dear Colleagues and Students:
With the fatal shooting last weekend in Tennessee, gun violence is once again in the headlines (Washington Post), as a troubled man used an AR-15 to cut four lives short. A few courageous elected officials are finally starting to pass stronger gun violence prevention laws aimed at saving lives.
On April 11th, Vermont’s Governor Phil Scott signed a new law there. “The three measures Scott signed include new background check requirements, age restrictions on gun purchases, and a ban on ‘bump stocks,’ modifications that make certain weapons fire at a faster rate.” (The Hill)
On Tuesday of this week, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan signed several measures; one of them “enabled families and law enforcement to ask courts for an order to temporarily restrict a person’s access to firearms, if they are found to be a risk to themselves or others. He also signed a measure to ban bump stocks. And Hogan signed a measure to require convicted domestic abusers to surrender their guns… and legislation for tougher sentences for repeat violent offenders and people who commit crimes with a gun.” (Associated Press)
On Wednesday, Delaware Governor John Carney voiced his support on Twitter for The Beau Biden Gun Violence Prevention Act, which “would create a process for law-enforcement officials to get permission to search and seize firearms from individuals who are deemed by mental health professionals to be dangerous to themselves and others.” (CNN)
These measures are long overdue, as numerous studies in recent weeks underscore. According to reporting by CNN last Friday, “We're only 16 weeks into 2018, and there have already been 20 school shootings where someone was hurt or killed. That averages out to 1.25 shootings a week.” (CNN) And last month, “the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence released the latest edition of its Annual Gun Law Scorecard, which grades and ranks each state on the strength of its gun laws. This comprehensive, 50-state analysis clearly shows how stronger gun laws like background checks help reduce gun death rates and save lives”. (Giffords Law Center)
Finally, the critical need for more research on gun violence was underscored on Wednesday when more details were made public on the First Regional Gun Violence Consortium, which has representation on it from several NYU faculty, including our own Jennifer Pomeranz. “The consortium brings the thought leaders and top researchers from partner states together to undertake significant new research on all manners of gun violence, data collection and analysis across multiple disciplines. This unprecedented effort will provide the public, including policymakers, with new information to ultimately reduce the scourge of gun violence. This groundbreaking consortium fills the void left by the federal government's 1996 ban on the use of federal funds to study gun violence, which has obstructed research efforts across the nation, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.” (See story here.)
And just yesterday, “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday said President Trump's new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes there isn’t a prohibition on his agency researching gun violence. Robert Redfield "agreed there is no longer a prohibition on the CDC conducting research on the gun violence epidemic," Schumer said after a meeting with Redfield. "That is a good first step but we have a lot of work to do to ensure the CDC initiates this extremely important research in the near future." (The Hill)
My hope is that these laws to strengthen gun control will sweep the nation. While there’s so much more work to do, this week has me feeling inspired that we’re finally headed in the right direction.
Cheryl G. Healton,
Dean