Progress Report RUTGERS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 683 HOES LANE WEST PISCATAWAY, NJ 08854 732-470-0438
fb.com/NJGVRC
@NJGVRC
https://bit.ly/3vorxyh
HTTPS://GUNVIOLENCERESEARCHCENTER.RUTGERS.EDU/
The New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (GVRC) strives to be a center for excellence in research on gun violence that will contribute to safer and healthier communities. We endeavor to achieve this through multidisciplinary research on gun violence, with an emphasis on translating the science into clear and actionable policies and effective programs—in a real-world context—to ensure widespread adoption. To that end, a huge part of our vision is the communication of science to communities that would most benefit from this information by initiating conversations that are grounded in data but also speak from a variety of perspectives in hope of reaching a broader audience.
Although our focus is on research, training and education, and outreach, we continue to capitalize on the existing strengths of local, state, and national agencies, and on Rutgers’ ongoing collaborative relationships with external organizations. With this collaborative effort, the GVRC helps to facilitate data linkage that advances gun research throughout the state, while producing and supporting original research on gun violence.
During FY21, we have published a number of peer reviewed scientific articles in leading journals, presented to community and academic audiences across the country, secured several externally funded grants, and launched a variety of research projects examining varying aspects of gun violence. We developed a library of free resources that provide digestible summaries of the science of gun violence prevention. These resources include infographics, executive summaries, policy memos, and video interviews with leading scientists. We grew our social media and traditional media presence in an effort to broaden our reach and to serve as a leading national voice on the topic of gun violence prevention. In the coming year, we anticipate growing in multiple domains and continuing our efforts to help the communities across New Jersey and beyond that have been devastated by gun violence.
Sincerely,
GVRC Executive Director, Michael Anestis, Ph.D.
GVRC Assistant Director, R. Thurman Barnes, JD, MDiv
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New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center This progress report aims to summarize the research, communications, and community outreach work conducted by the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (GVRC) during FY21. The GVRC's mission is to conduct and fund cutting-edge scientific research on gun violence prevention and serve as a voice to make scientific information available to all communities impacted by gun violence. Our plan is to focus on all aspects of gun violence, specifically firearm suicide and interpersonal gun violence. The GVRC is committed to combating racial disparities that leave marginalized communities shouldering a disproportionate burden of interpersonal gun violence and we plan to partner with groups like our service and community members heavily impacted by gun violence.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Research Pages 3 - 11
Externally Funded Projects Pages 12 -15
Ongoing Projects Pages 16 - 22
Research Grants Pages 23 - 26
Channels for Communication Social Media Website Statistics You Tube Newsletter Press Release
Pages 27 - 34
What's New? Pages 35- 38
Community Engagement Pages 39 - 40
The NJGVRC works in collaboration with and is supported by the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE).
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Research
P APGAEG E 3 3
"The Impact of Firearm Legislation on Firearm Deaths, 1991–2017"
April 2021: Journal of Public Health (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdab047
This research study examined the relationship between a state’s total number of firearm laws and suicide and homicide mortality. Even with other state characteristics (such as unemployment rate and prevalence of gun ownership) taken into consideration, the total number of gun laws were predictive of states firearm suicide and homicide rates. States with more gun laws had on average, lower suicide and homicide rates. Note: The results of this study were presented at the 53rd Annual Conference of the American Association of Suicidology, virtually.
April 2021:
"An examination of preferred messengers on firearm safety for suicide prevention." Preventive Medicine (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106452
In a large sample of American community members, we examined who different groups of people feel represent the most credible messengers on safe firearm storage for various forms of gun violence. Across nearly every group, law enforcement, Active Duty service members, and military veterans were rated as the most credible whereas celebrities, casual acquaintances, and medical professionals were rated as the least credible. These findings highlight the importance of elevating specific voices in efforts to promote safe firearm storage.
PA PA GG E E4 4
Feb. 2021 :
"Firearm Type and Number: Examining Differences among Firearm Owning Suicide Decedents." Archives of Suicide Research (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/13811118.2021.1885536
Firearms account for the majority of American suicide deaths, but little is known about why some firearm owners who die by suicide use their firearms and others do not. In a sample of 121 firearm owners who died by suicide – with answers provided by surviving friends and family – we found that handgun ownership but not shotgun ownership was associated with likelihood of having used a firearm in their suicide death. Importantly, well over 80% of all individuals in the a died using a firearm, so shotgun ownership was no protective; rather, handgun ownership was just particularly dangerous.
Jan. 2021
"Gun Laws and Youth Gun Carrying: Results from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System." Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01384-x
This research study examined the impact of gun laws on the prevalence of youth gun carrying behavior. Using the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, the percentage of youth reporting gun carrying behavior in 20 of the 50 US states was estimated and comparisons were made between these states and the total number of gun laws. The total number of gun laws in a state was a significant predictor of youth gun carrying, such that as the number of gun laws increased, the percentage of youth reporting gun carrying decreased.
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Jan. 2021 "Threat perceptions and the intention to acquire firearms." Journal of Psychiatric Research (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.033
2020 featured an unprecedented surge in firearm sales. In this study, we examined what factors predicted which individuals were considering purchasing firearms in the upcoming year (assessed in June/July 2020).Black individuals, first responders, essential workers, and those with past year suicidal thoughts were more likely to be planning to purchase firearms (vs being undecided or planning not to purchase). Most importantly, those planning to purchase firearms reported more stress related to COVID-19, general intolerance of uncertainty, and a tendency to view the world as threatening and other people as not worthy of trust. These findings speak to a sense of anxiety as driving firearm purchasing behavior during a time of increased sales. "Lethal Means Counseling, Distribution of Cable Locks, and Safe Firearm
Dec. 2020 Storage Practices Among the Mississippi National Guard: A Factorial
Randomized Controlled Trial, 2018–2020." American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2021), https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306019
Two-thirds of suicide deaths in the military result from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Despite this, little research has been done on ways to prevent such outcomes. We conducted a randomized controlled trial of lethal means counseling and distribution of cable locks within a sample of firearm-owning members of the Mississippi National Guard. Results indicated that those who received lethal means counseling (vs control) were significantly more likely begin using cable locks and to store their firearms in gun safes and those who received cable locks (vs no cable locks) were more likely to then use cable locks. These results held through both the 3- and 6-month follow-up appointments. These findings indicate that a single session of a simple intervention, delivered with cultural humility, can result in meaningful and sustainable changes in firearm storage behavior.
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Dec. 2020 Associations among exaggerated threat perceptions, suicidal thoughts, and suicidal behaviors in U.S. firearm owners. American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.09.004
In a sample of 6,200 Americans matched to Census demographic data, we examined threat sensitivity (e.g. views that the world is dangerous and others are untrustworthy) and its relationship to firearm ownership and suicide risk. Firearm owners who own primarily for protection endorsed higher levels of threat sensitivity and suicide-related behaviors than did other firearm owners and non-firearm owners. The same held true for those intending to purchase a firearm in the coming year compared to those undecided or who intended not to acquire a firearm during that time frame. This highlights that individuals driven to purchase firearms for protection may be more anxious, more sensitive to threat, and more vulnerable to suicide.
Nov. 2020
Suicidal Ideation Among Individuals Who Have Purchased Firearms During COVID-19. American Journal of Preventive Medicine (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2020.10.013
Historically, firearm ownership is not associated with suicidal thoughts, which is extremely important given that firearms are so much more lethal than other methods of suicide. In this study, however, we examined if this trend remained true during the 2020 firearm purchasing surge. Alarmingly, those who purchased firearms during the purchasing surge were far more likely to have experienced lifetime, past year, and past month suicidal thoughts than were other firearm owners and non-firearm owners. This means that those purchasing during the surge may be a different cohort – one at particularly high risk for suicide – and indicates that we cannot simply assume that research from the past applies to the current moment.
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Anestis, M.D., & Daruwala, S.E. (in press). The association between beliefs about the centrality of mental illness in gun violence and general firearm beliefs and behaviors. Psychology of Violence.
In two samples of American firearm owners, we examined to what extent the belief that gun violence is a “mental health problem” rather than a “gun problem” is associated with inaccurate beliefs about firearms. In both samples, firearm owners who more strongly believe that gun violence is a mental health problem were less likely to believe firearm access is associated with suicide risk and a greater belief that individuals prevented from attempting suicide with a firearm will simply find another way to die. Such individuals were also less open to storing their firearms more safely in order to prevent their own or someone else’s suicide death.
Anestis, M.D., Bandel, S.L., Butterworth, S.E., Bond, A.E., Daruwala, S.E., & Bryan, C.J. (2020). Suicide risk and firearm ownership and storage behavior in a large military sample. Psychiatry Research. Advance Online Publication.
Firearms account for approximately two-thirds of all suicide deaths in the military. In a large sample of service members – drawn largely from the Army National Guard – we examined firearm storage practices and suicide risk. Service members with lifetime suicidal thoughts were not more likely than other service members to own firearms; however, among firearm owning service members, those with prior suicidal thoughts, current depressive symptoms, and a stronger belief that they may die by suicide in the future were significantly more likely to store their firearms unsafely (e.g. loaded and/or in an unlocked location). This means that the service members most at risk for suicidal thoughts are often the ones with the most ready access to a firearm.
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Bryan, C.J., Anestis, M.D., & Bryan, A.O. (in press). Positive and negative affective processes associated with firearm acquisition and ownership. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
In a sample of 6,200 Americans matched to Census demographic data, we examined differences in positive and negative emotions. Individuals who reported owning firearms primarily for protection reported higher average levels of both positive and negative emotions than did other firearm owners and non-firearm owners. Those intending to acquire a firearm in the coming 12 months also reported elevated levels of both positive and negative emotions. Among firearm owners who own primarily for protection and who reported intending to acquire a firearm in the coming 12 months, positive and negative emotions were positively correlated with one another, whereas in all other groups these variables were unrelated or inversely related to one another.We conclude that cognitiveaffective processes may be disrupted among this particular subgroup of firearm owners.This could mean that such individuals are more prone to feeling anxious and that they acquire firearms to decrease those feelings, resulting in a surge of positive emotions that reinforces firearm acquisition as a powerful way to address feelings of anxiety.
Bryan, C.J., Bryan, A.O., & Anestis, M.D. (in press). Rates of preparatory suicidal behaviors across subgroups of protective firearm owners. Archives of Suicide Research.
Firearm owners are often considered as one homogenous group; however, little research actually supports this contention. We utilized latent class analysis to identify different subgroups of firearm owners and found support for a model that described three distinct groups. The first group – “low volume” – tended to own only one firearm, usually a handgun stored in their home – and were more likely to utilize safe storage practices. The “moderate” and “high” ownership groups owned more firearms, used less safe storage practices, and endorsed a wider variety of reasons for firearm ownership. Startlingly, approximately one-third of individuals in the “high” ownership group had taken steps towards making a suicide attempt and/or had practiced making a suicide attempt at some point in their lives. These findings highlight the importance of understanding communities embedded within firearm owners in order to better understand risk.
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Bond, A.E., Bandel, S.L., Wagler, K., Daruwala, S.E., & Anestis, M.D. (in press). Differentiating suicide decedents who died by firearm versus hanging. International Review of Psychiatry.
Little is known about what determines which method an individual will use to die by suicide. In this study, we examined 149 individuals who had died by suicide by firearm or hanging (answers provided by surviving friends or family). Age and firearm ownership status were the only factors that differentiated between firearm and hanging victims, thereby highlighting that access to a particular method often drives the decision to use that method. Given the uniquely high lethality rate of firearms, this is an important consideration. 85-95% of all firearm suicide attempts result in death as compared to less than 5% of all other suicide attempts combined – and 70% of those who survive a suicide attempt never attempt again. Increase firearm access may drive the decision to use a firearm in a suicide attempt, thereby lowering the odds of survival and a subsequently long and fulfilling life.
Bonne, S. L., Violano, P., Duncan, T. K., Pappas, P. G., Baltazar, G. A., Dultz, L. A., Schroeder, M. E., Capella, J., Hirsch, M., Conrad-Schnetz, K., Rattan, R., Como, J. J., Jewell, S., & Crandall, M. L. (2021). Prevention of firearm violence through specific types of community-based programming: An Eastern Association for The Surgery of Trauma evidence-based review. Annals of Surgery.
This research review examines two types of communitybased programs to mitigate gun violence – (1) gun buyback programs and (2) community-based violence prevention programs. Evidence suggests that gun buyback programs and community-based violence prevention programs can mitigate gun violence, but only when culturally appropriate and implemented with community input.
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Coles, Z. J., Tufariello, A., & Bonne, S. (2020). Unpacking the causes of post-traumatic stress disorder in violently injured patients. Journal of Surgical Research, 256, 43-47.
This research study examined the prevalence of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among victims of violence (VOV) reporting to a University Hospital. VOV reported a significantly higher prevalence of PTSD symptoms than is typically found in the general population. Despite this, the cohort examined reported greater positive affect than negative affect demonstrating the resilience of this group. Findings suggest the importance of screening for PTSD among VOV in hospital settings.
Bonne, S. (2020). Educational innovation for gun violence in the US. Journal of the American College of Surgeons, 231(6), 637-638.
In this invited commentary, Dr. Bonne highlights the development of a curriculum for the training of hospital residents in dealing with firearm injury patients. Residents reported enjoying the training and demonstrated improvements in their knowledge in several of the core competencies examined. Through this training, residents can acquire the necessary skills to handle the multifaceted issue of gun violence.
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Externally Funded Projects
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Safety Messaging in the United States Military GVRC Executive Director Michael Anestis, Ph.D. was funded by the Military Suicide Research Consortium (Department of Defense; total costs approximately $500,000) to conduct a study examining which aspects of messaging on safe firearm storage prompt the greatest level of openness to changing storage practices among Active Duty service members.
We are currently undergoing regulatory review prior to the onset of data collection, which should begin in late 2021 and conclude in early 2022. A total of 600 firearm owning Active Duty service members will be randomized to see 1 of 12 different safe storage messages. The messages all include the same image and basic information on safe storage, but differ on (1) the supposed profession of the service member said to be delivering the message (2) whether or not additional “gun culture friendly” messaging is include and (3) whether or not additional information acknowledging the desire to keep one’s home safe is present. This study will help refine our understanding of how best to package information on safe firearm storage so as to facilitate broad changes in firearm storage practices within the US military.
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Webinars and Trainings with New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services The GVRC was funded by DMHAS (total costs approximately $120,000) to develop two webinars on firearm suicide prevention – one geared towards the general public and one geared towards health care providers.
Executive Director Michael Anestis, Ph.D. developed and filmed both webinars in Fall 2020 and the videos are now posted on the DMHAS website as a resource for New Jersey residents and health care providers. In addition, Dr. Anestis and GVRC postdoctoral fellow John Gunn, Ph.D. provided trainings on firearm suicide prevention and the New Jersey extreme risk protection order law to individuals attending Zero Suicide Academy sessions across New Jersey.
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Protective Environments: Military community engagement to prevent firearm-related violence The GVRC Executive Director Mike Anestis will serve as a co-investigator on a grant led by the University Colorado School of Medicine and including Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and the United States Air Force Academy, funded by the Department of Defense via the Defense Health Agency (total costs: $699,000 over 15 months). The DHA is providing funding for the initial stage of what will ultimately be a 3-4 year project, with additional related grant applications under review with the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium (MTEC) and the Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program (JWMRP) that would enable the broader vision for this study. In this project, the first year would be spent working with members of the Air Force at and beyond Buckley Air Force Base in order to adapt Project Safe Guard (PSG). PSG was a randomized controlled trial of lethal means counseling led by GVRC Executive Director, Dr. Mike Anestis. This new project seeks to ensure the protocol fits the Air Force culture more broadly and that of Buckley Air Force Base in particular. We also aim to adapt the protocol to address other forms of gun violence (e.g. unintentional shootings). In years 2 and 3, we would then run an implementation trial, testing if unit members report safer firearm storage after receiving the intervention. This project has the potential to dramatically reduce the risk for suicide among Airmen.
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Ongoing Research Projects
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New Jersey Gun Violence Panel Data The GVRC is working with Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling to conduct a 3 year project investigating gun violence across New Jersey communities.
The project will enlist 4,000 individuals from across the state using state-of-the-art sampling methods to ensure that our sample is representative of New Jersey. We will follow-up with the same individuals again 1- and 2-years later, allowing us to track individual and environmental factors that influence whether and how individuals change over time with respect to firearm ownership and storage, gun violence exposure, views on and knowledge about firearm policies, and far more.
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Annual Three-State Survey In early 2021, we launched the first annual three state firearm survey. In this project, we will annually collect samples from New Jersey (n = 3,500) and Mississippi (n = 2,000) matched to their state Census demographics. Additionally, we will rotate the identity of a third state each year, with the first year focused on Minnesota (n = 2,000), where we will again match participants to Census demographics but will also dramatically oversample from the Twin Cities in order to center that project on the death of George Floyd.
This project will allow us to better understand how different communities have experienced gun violence, how that relates to social determinants of health, systemic racism, interactions with law enforcement, access to firearms, political affiliations, income equality, and a variety of other variables. By comparing states that differ widely in terms of demographics, culture, firearm ownership rates, and firearm death rates, we will be able to better understand regional factors that influence various forms of gun violence. As of late April, data collection is approximately 70% complete and we anticipate the full dataset being ready by early June 2021. With a full GVRC budget anticipated for FY22, we may opt to expand this project to include up to 5 states, thereby allowing us to further diversify our sample.
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Trauma Center Project As part of a national effort to build a database of non-fatal firearm injuries, the GVRC is funding four trauma centers in cities across New Jersey to collect and share detailed data on every firearm injury that comes through their hospital. These data will address a meaningful gap in our understanding of gun violence, which focuses primarily on firearm deaths and does not provide an accurate description of the toll that gun violence inflicts upon communities across the state.
This project will allow for the development of a New Jersey database of firearm injuries and will also provide the GVRC and the contributing trauma centers with access to a national version of the same data. This tool can then be used for analyses to clarify how nonfatal firearm injuries are impacting specific communities across the state and will contribute to our efforts at providing opportunities for a new generation of student firearm researchers to have access to data that facilitates their development into gun violence prevention experts.
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HCUP Dataset Acquisition The GVRC is in the process of acquiring the HCUP dataset, which includes firearm injury data that extends back more than 10 years.
This particular dataset represents the final piece of a project being led by GVRC Director of Data Integration Stephanie Bonne, MD. Dr. Bonne will demonstrate that, depending upon which data source is used, scientists will draw dramatically different estimates of the rates of nonfatal firearm injuries, even when considering the exact same communities. This highlights a troubling fact: our state and national systems for tracking firearm injuries are highly flawed and unable to meet the needs of communities aiming to quantify the impact of gun violence.
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Project Safe Guard The GVRC Executive Director Michael Anestis, Ph.D. was funded by the Military Suicide Research Consortium (Department of Defense; total costs approximately $2 million) to conduct a three year randomized controlled trial of lethal means counseling and the distribution of cable locks in a sample of firearm-owning members of the Mississippi National Guard.
Service members were randomized to either a single 10-15 minute session focused on safe firearm storage or to receive our control intervention and half of the sample was randomized to receive free cable locks for their personal firearms. At both 3- and 6months post-baseline, participants who received the treatments were far more likely to engage in safe firearm storage practices. This highlights that, in a high risk sample of individuals not looking to discuss firearms and who do not believe that firearm storage is related to suicide, conversations conducted with cultural humility can nonetheless prompt meaningful and sustained changes in firearm storage behavior, thereby lowering the odds of suicide death, unintentional shootings, fatal domestic violence, and firearm theft. The research team is currently coding the audio recordings of lethal means counseling sessions to better understand which aspects of the treatment are the most effective
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GVRC Gun Shop Survey The Gun Shop Survey will improve our understanding of what resources gun shop employees need to be better prepared for interacting with suicidal customers.
The purpose of the study is to briefly assess what resources gun shop employees have been exposed to, which resources they would like to receive, and their general beliefs concerning firearm suicide and suicide prevention. Through assessing the extent of knowledge regarding suicide prevention and risk, as well as the extent of their need, we hope to better understand what resources are needed to utilize this community in the identification and prevention of firearm suicide.
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Research Grants Under Review
PP AA GG E E2 3
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) The GVRC submitted a grant in collaboration with Ideas42 that is currently under review with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
In this project, we are proposing to use qualitative methods to better understand the obstacles that prevent firearm owners nationwide from storing their personal firearms safely. This research could help develop more effective interventions and messaging around safe storage.
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Arnold Ventures The GVRC submitted a grant in collaboration with Dr. Hannah Szlyk of the Rutgers School of Social Work that is currently under review with Arnold Ventures.
In this project, we propose to use both qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand how often crisis center workers ask about firearm access and storage when individuals call in crisis, how comfortable they are asking such questions, how much training they received in addressing this issue, and what type of information they would like in order to feel more comfortable. 2020 saw a massive surge in crisis calls across the nation and we will be working with more than 100 centers accredited by the American Association of Suicidology. This project can help establish needs related to training and implementation within accredited crisis centers and can shine a clearer light onto what factors influence the decision to discuss firearms and whether those factors vary by geographic region.
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National Institutes of Health (NIH) The GVRC submitted a grant in collaboration with Florida State University that is currently under review with NIH. This application will be considered alongside others seeking a portion of only the second year of funds NIH has been authorized to use specifically to address gun violence. In this proposal, we will recruit three samples of community members and examine how threat sensitivity (viewing the world as dangerous and other people as untrustworthy) predicts behavior with a firearm.
Participants will engage with a shooting simulator that presents them with potentially threatening situations and we will measure how quickly they reach for a realistic firearm and whether they fire it at individuals in the simulator. We will then also examine if they buy firearms in the subsequent 12 months. Each of the three samples will include an additional task. In one, some participants will engage in a racial priming task to see if racial bias impacts behavior in the shooting simulator. In another, some participants will receive electric shocks just prior to the simulator and depending on how they perform in the simulator in order to see if anxious anticipation impacts how individuals behave in the shooting simulator. In the third sample, some participants will participate in a computer task aimed to lower their sensitivity to threat in order to see if that impacts their behavior in the simulator. This project has the potential to shift our understanding of why some individuals behave differently in terms of real time firearm behavior and could set the stage for the development of interventions that lower the odds of gun violence incidents.
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Channels for Communications
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2021 TWITTER STATS
#NJGVRC
FROM JAN - APRIL
500 Followers
181.8K Total Impressions
2K Impressions per day
4,386K Profile visit per month
89
Average monthly mentions
GVRC WEBSITE STATISTICS
*Numbers are based off an average from Jan 2021 to April 2021
2,000 This chart is the total of monthly new visitors vs. returning visitors from 1,500 April 2020 to April 2021. The majority of GVRC visitors are from the United States. 1,000
500
Ap ril 20 M ay 20 Ju ne 20 Ju ly 20 Au g 2 Se 0 pt 20
O ct 20 N ov 20 D ec 20 Ja n 21 Fe b 21 M ar ch 21 Ap ril 21
0
New Visitors
Returning Visitors
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41.5% male
58.5% female
AGE
300
"Who is our Audience?"
200
100
0
18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
RETURNING 13.8%
NJGVRC WEBSITE VISITORS
These metrics are an important way for the GVRC to track, monitor effectiveness, and develop communications strategies to enhance the reach of our message. Analyzing the age, gender, and website visitors helps uncover new opportunities for content, as well as lets us know which platforms are the most effective means of communicating and engaging online.
NEW 86.2%
*RESULTS ARE BASED OFF GOOGLE ANALYTIC DATA
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Youtube
The GVRC started a host of videos on our Youtube channel. The "Let's Talk" video series, discusses safe firearm storage based on the #NJGVRC research study, "Project Safe Guard." We also have videos discussing our interpersonal gun violence initiatives within the faith-based communities.
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Another source of our communication efforts is through our monthly email newsletters. These emails highlight newly published research papers on gun violence, special events, GVRC partnerships, speaking engagements, and more. Take a look at some of our newsletters.
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Press Releases
PPAAG GEE 3320
Visit the GVRC website for the full versions of all our press releases
Firearms Laws Curb Rates of Gun Violence Across United States A number of firearm laws significantly predicted suicide and homicide rates, Rutgers study finds...
April 2021
Handgun Ownership Associated With Firearm Suicide Feb. 2021
Handgun ownership, not shotgun ownership, is associated with greater odds of a person having died from self-inflicted gunshot wound rather than another...
States With More Gun Laws Have Lower Youth Gun Violence, Feb. 2021 Rutgers Study Finds Gun violence among children is lower in states with more gun laws, according to a Rutgersled study.
Safe Gun Storage Counseling and Lock Distribution Could Lower Military Dec. 2020 Suicide Military members who receive gun locks and lethal means counseling, which focuses on ways to limit a person’s access to specific methods for suicide, are more likely to use a gun safe and unload firearms before they are stored, according to a Rutgers researcher.
Pandemic Fears Driving Firearm Purchases Dec. 2020
Stress related to the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainty of what the future holds is motivating people to purchase firearms, a trend that may be more prevalent in those who already own firearms, according to a Rutgers study.
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Dec. 2020
People Who Purchased Firearms During Pandemic More Likely to Be Suicidal Unsafe firearm storage increases the risk of suicide in houses with a firearm, Rutgers study says
Nov. 2020
Understanding Impacts of COVID-19 on Substance Use Disorder and Treatment A Rutgers expert discusses the many impacts of COVID-19 on people with substance use disorder and what treatment providers, policymakers, and researchers are doing to help
Preventing Firearm Suicide During the Pandemic and Social Unrest Sept. 2020
Sept. 2020
During the pandemic and nationwide protests, firearm purchases have soared — a concern for suicide prevention specialists, says a Rutgers expert
Gun Violence Research Center Executive Director Available to Discuss Firearm Issues During 2020 Presidential Campaign
Military Personnel at of Suicide Store Firearms Unsafely July 2020
During the pandemic and nationwide protests, firearm purchases have soared — a concern for Strategies focused on limiting access to personal firearms can prevent suicides
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What's New?
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The GVRC participates as columnists and contributors in several editorials on firearm suicides and interpersonal gun violence. Take a glimpse into some of the many op-ed's, interviews, podcasts, and conferences that the GVRC has contributed to. To view more visit the website.
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Community Engagement
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The GVRC believes that all communities should have access to gun violence research because "knowing" save lives. Our initiatives are focused on all aspects of gun violence, including both suicide and interpersonal gun violence. Our research will be digestible for communities, specifically areas shouldering a disproportional burden of interpersonal gun violence. The faithbased communities are the ears and eyes to what is being done or not done to help fight gun violence, so the GVRC created the interfaith affiliate
A huge part of our vision is the communication of science to communities that would most benefit from the research. interfaith affiliates are comprised of faith leaders from different religious traditions, who are committed to preventing gun violence.
program, which is comprised of faith leaders from various religions that can help the GVRC reach and deliver research in the real-world context. The GVRC will create various outreach projects that will provide strategies
The NJGVRC have successfully hosted Twitter chats with that focused on suicide and interpersonal gun violence #NJGVRC
and programs for communities battling gun violence. Through this initiative, we will partner with community groups to get our cutting-edge scientific research on gun violence prevention available for those heavily impacted by gun violence.
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