Stemming gun violence starts with better data

For nearly 25 years after the passage of the Dickey Amendment, researchers were not able to access critical funding to study gun violence. This moratorium on research robbed citizens and legislators alike of the opportunity to gain a data-driven understanding of the firearms ecosystem, and the subsequent ability to craft effective evidence-based policies. Maurizio Porfiri was the first researcher to receive a Leading Engineering for America's Prosperity, Health, & Infrastructure (LEAP-HI) grant from the National Science Foundation earmarked specifically for gun-related research.  

Now, he and his team at NYU Tandon are working with colleagues at institutions across the U.S. and the globe to harness and analyze data about firearm prevalence and use. This is the first research of its kind to unfold the firearm ecosystem simultaneously on three levels:

• Macroscale: causality between firearm prevalence and firearm-related harms at the national level
• Mesoscale: policy diffusion across states
• Microscale: individual opinions about firearm safety

They are also building new data models to support additional analysis, diagnostics, and predictions of firearm-related harms, and inform reasonable gun policies.

More members of the NYU Team:

• How mapping America's "firearm ecosystem" could help lead to gun violence solutions (CBS)
   
• Institute Professor Maurizio Porfiri to lead the Center for Urban Science and Progress (Tandon Newsroom)
   
• Firearms, fish, and pandemics: Meet the unconventional engineer who sees unique patterns in data (Inside Higher Ed)