New Jersey and Rutgers Get Serious on Examining Gun Violence

11/13/2019
 

Last month New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and school leaders at Rutgers University announced that the University will implement new interdisciplinary research to bolster the effectiveness of the Center on Gun Violence Research. Gov Phil Murphy stated:

“New Jersey has been proud to lead the nation in the creation of a legal and policy framework to stem the tide of gun violence[...] the Center on Gun Violence Research at Rutgers[...] work fills the gap left by inaction at the federal level."


The newest round of funding will allow the research center to focus on specific issues such as relationships between legal firearm availability and gun homicides, determining risk factors for gun-related deaths in New Jersey, when and why do owners carry guns, and how community violence affects perceived threats and several more that will assist local, statewide, and even federal lawmakers to possess data on the issue. As outlined by Paul Boxer, the core director of the research center and psychology professor at Rutgers:

“Our goal is to create new insights into how society can prevent and mitigate the incidence of gun violence [...]We selected these projects for their innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, and their promise to promote public health and prevent violence through new theory, practice and policy"

While this is only the second state funded center that examines gun violence in an interdisciplinary focus to research the causes, consequences and solutions for gun-related violence, many in New Jersey, and across America, are excited to see more through research going focusing on the gun control.