GVRC PROGRESS REPORT 2 0 2 6
|Rutgers School of Public Health Piscataway, New Jersey
#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
OUR VISION VISION OUR
This progress report aims to summarize GVRC research, publications, active externally funded grants, research projects funded by the GVRC, community outreach projects and partnerships, and communications conducted by the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (GVRC) during FY26. 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.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Leadership & Mission Our primary mission has two aims: (1) To conduct and fund cutting-edge research on all forms of gun violence and (2) to disseminate the science of gun violence prevention broadly so as to empower communities to make data-driven policy and program demands that meet their local needs. This year, the GVRC continued its mission to prevention firearm injury and death through rigorous research and a willingness to work with individuals from all political views and backgrounds.
Michael Anestis, PhD GVRC Executive Director
To further our mission of training the next generation of gun violence prevention scholars, we employed four postdoctoral fellows and had two doctoral students working on GVRC research. Additionally, we hosted our second annual GVRC firearm suicide prevention fellowship, during which 21 young scholars were selected from a competitive pool of applicants
R.Thurman Barnes, JD MDiv
and took part in a full day of training followed by a second day in which
GVRC Assistant Director
they were supplied with data to help foster collaborations across institutions.
This year, we also funded over $1.1 million in gun violence prevention research grants. The GVRC is working to serve as a resource in a moment in which the federal government has demonstrated hostility towards gun violence prevention science, and we believe one of the most effective ways to serve that function is to invest in cutting edge projects that address the issues most important to New Jersey communities.
Daniel Semenza, PhD GVRC Director of Research
The New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (GVRC) aims to address all forms of gun violence and to do so in a manner that has a tangible impact on the communities we serve.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Table of Contents PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
5-26
ADDITIONAL PEER-REVIEWED
27-30
GVRC LED RESEARCH
31-32
RESEARCH FUNDED BY THE GVRC
33-45
EVENTS
46-50
EXTERNALLY FUNDED PROJECTS
51-55
CONFERENCES & PRESENTATIONS 56-60
REFLECTIONS FROM GVRC ALUMNI 61-65
COMMUNICATIONS & DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT
66-83
The NJGVRC works in collaboration with and is supported by the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE).
*Disclaimer: This progress report presents the research, initiatives, and contributions of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health during Fiscal Year 2026, covering July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
GVRC PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS Throughout FY26, GVRC researchers led 21 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to more than 15 additional publications. Together, these 36 publications strengthened the evidence base for firearm-related research and reflected the Center’s broad collaborations and contributions to the field.
Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JULY 2025 OWNER WILLINGNESS TO TEMPORARILY STORE FIREARMS WITH FIREARM RETAILERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES Read Open Access Publication Here
Our findings show that firearm owners are more willing to temporarily store their firearms
with
enforcement
retailers
when
they're
and
law
concerned
Firearm Owner Willingness of Temporary Storage with Firearm Retailers and Law Enforcement Agencies Jennifer Paruk, PhD, Erin Wright-Kelly, DrPH, Leslie Barnard, DrPH, Michael Anestis, PhD (2025) Firearm Owner Willingness of Temporary Storage with Firearm Retailers and Law Enforcement Agencies. JAMA Network Open.
What Was the Purpose?
To assess firearm owners and household members willingness to temporarily store firearms with retailers or law enforcement — and their concerns. The study also examined whether lockers at retail locations would increase willingness.
about protecting others in their household
What Was in the Study?
rather than themselves, but are also
We surveyed 3,018 U.S. adults who live
concerned
about
leaving
the
home
unprotected,” said Jennifer Paruk, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at the New Jersey Gun Violence
in a household with firearms, using a nationally representative sample.
What Did We Ask?
Firearm owners can voluntarily and temporarily store their firearms outside the home for a variety of reasons (e.g., going on a long vacation, concerns of suicide) Firearm retailers and law enforcement agencies are two such firearm storage providers We do not know if firearm owners' willingness and concerns are different between firearm retailers and law enforcement and and if installing lockers in retailers would change willingness
What Did We Find?
41% of firearm owners and their family members were willing to store with retailers and 34% with law enforcement agencies in at least one circumstance The most common circumstance for willingness to store with for both retailers and law enforcement was concern that someone else in the home would hurt someone else
Participant concerns were similar for both storage providers
Research
Center.
“This
suggests
that
providers should emphasize how voluntary, temporary storage can keep loved ones safe while highlighting the short-term
Participants who believed household firearm access increases suicide risk had increased odds of willingness to store with retailers and law enforcement
22% of participants reported increased willingness to store with retailers if lockers were installed What Does This Mean?
A meaningful minority of firearm owners and their families report willingness to voluntarily and temporarily temporarily store firearms outside the home in at least one circumstance Participants who were willing to store with retailers and law enforcement were similar. Participants also had similar concerns for both storage providers. Efforts to promote voluntary and temporary storage should emphasize how such practices can protect loved ones installing lockers within firearm retailers may increase willingness for voluntary, temporary out-of-home storage installing
nature of this storage." Read Rutgers Today Press Release Here
JENNIFER PARUK, PHD, MPH GVRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JULY 2025
LOCAL HOMICIDES INCREASE SUICIDE IN US COUNTIES Read Open Access Publication Here
“Local violence doesn’t only harm the victims – it destabilizes entire communities in ways that increase the risk of suicide,” said Daniel Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center and lead author of the study. “Violence prevention is suicide prevention.”
Read Rutgers Today Press Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH Read Rutgers Today Release Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
AUGUST 2025 EXAMINING CHARACTERISTICS AND EXPERIENCES OF BLACK ADULTS IN INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE RELATIONSHIPS: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL SURVEY Read Open Access Publication Here
MICHAEL ANESTIS, PHD GVRC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
AUGUST 2025 POLITICAL AFFILIATION MODERATES THE LINK BETWEEN GUN VIOLENCE EXPOSURE AND FIREARM BEHAVIORS VIA PERCEPTIONS OF UTILITY, SAFETY, AND THREAT Read Open Access Publication Here
SULTAN ALTIKRITI, PHD GVRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
OCTOBER 2025 EXAMINING DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FIREARM OWNERS CURRENTLY ENGAGED IN MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT Read Open Access Publication Here
“Female firearm owners, white individuals, people with higher education and those who have experienced suicidal thoughts are more likely to be in therapy or be prescribed psychiatric medication,” said lead author Allie Bond, assistant professor at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health .
Read Rutgers Today Release Here
ALLISON BOND, PHD GVFRC ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
OCTOBER 2025 IDENTIFYING COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION (CVI) APPROACHES: A GREY LITERATURE SCOPING REVIEW Read Open Access Publication Here
DEVON ZIMINSKI, PHD GVRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
OCTOBER 2025 RACIAL DISPARITIES IN VICTIM COMPENSATION AMONG HOMICIDE SURVIVORS IN THE UNITED STATES Read Open Access Publication Here
“In just a few months, we have witnessed the rapid dismantling of the very systems that have helped reduce firearm violence in recent years,” said Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center and an associate professor in the Departments of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, and Urban-Global Public Health. “This is not just a policy shift, it’s a threat to public health and safety. Public safety isn’t automatic. It relies on an infrastructure that includes research, prevention programs, and community interventions that must be protected and sustained.” Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
OCTOBER 2025 FIREARM VIOLENCE PREVENTION IN PERIL: A CALL TO DEFEND OUR PUBLIC SAFETY Read Open Access Publication Here
In just a few months, we have witnessed the rapid dismantling of the very systems
that
have
helped
reduce
firearm violence in recent years. This is not just a policy shift, it’s a threat to public health and safety,” said lead author Daniel Semenza, director of research
at
the
New
Jersey
Gun
Violence Research Center and associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public
Health.
Public
safety
isn’t
automatic. It relies on an infrastructure that
includes
research,
prevention
programs, and community interventions that must be protected and sustained.”
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
NOVEMBER 2025 SALIENCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR FIREARM CARRYING AND STORAGE IN THE USA Read Open Access Publication Here
“Social connections can act as a buffer
against
behaviors,
risky and
firearm strong
relationships may make people feel safer without needing to rely on a gun,” said Daniel Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center and associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health and Rutgers University-Camden. “ Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
NOVEMBER 2025 PREVENTING AND MITIGATING FRAUDULENT RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS IN ONLINE QUALITATIVE VIOLENCE AND INJURY PREVENTION RESEARCH Read Open Access Publication Here
“The presence of bots or humans attempting to engage in fraudulent research participation is a potential reality that researchers should be aware of, work to prevent where possible, and mitigate when detected to preserve research integrity and data quality,” said Devon Ziminski, a postdoctoral fellow at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, and lead author of the study. Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DEVON ZIMINSKI, PHD GVRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
DECEMBER 2025 THE INFLUENCE OF FIREARM DEALER OPENINGS AND CLOSINGS ON LOCAL SHOOTINGS IN THE U.S.
Read Open Access Publication Here
Led by Daniel Semenza, an associate professor
at
Rutgers
University-
Camden and director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, researchers examined how the opening
and
closing
of
federally
licensed firearm dealers impact local shooting
rates
in
United
States
neighborhoods over time. “When new federally licensed firearm dealers open in neighborhoods, our results
show
that
local
shootings
increase and stay high for years,” Semenza said. “Dealer openings are not
just
a
business
issue.
They
influence public safety by increasing access to guns in communities.”
Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JANUARY 2026 PHYSICAL HEALTH CHALLENGES, HEALTHCARE NEEDS, AND BARRIERS TO CARE AMONG FIREARM INJURY SURVIVORS: A MIXED METHODS ANALYSIS Read Open Access Publication Here
“Survivors of firearm injury often face lasting pain, disability, and difficulties navigating the health care system long after the initial trauma,” said Daniel Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health. “Our findings show that many survivors must manage complex medical needs while also confronting structural barriers like cost, transportation, and insurance gaps that limit access to care,” Semenza said. Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JANUARY 2026 "NOBODY ASKED US": ILLEGAL FIREARM ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP, AND STORAGE AMONG BLACK AND BROWN INDIVIDUALS IN NEWARK, NEW JERSEY Read Open Access Publication Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JANUARY 2026 CHANGES IN FIREARM INTENTIONS AND BEHAVIORS AFTER THE 2024 UNITED STATES PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Read Open Access Publication Here
“These findings highlight that communities that feel directly threatened by the policies and actions of the second Trump administration are reporting a greater drive to purchase firearms, carry them outside their home, and store them in a way that allows quick access and that these urges are a direct result of the presidential election,” said Michael Anestis, executive director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers and lead author of the study. “It may be that individuals feel that the government will not protect them or – worse yet – represents a direct threat to their safety, so they are trying to prepare themselves for selfdefense.” Read Rutgers Today Release Here
MICHAEL ANESTIS, PHD GVRC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
FEBUARY 2026 FLORIDA’S RISK PROTECTION ORDER CASES AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY Read Open Access Publication Here
JENNIFER PARUK, PHD GVRC POSTDOCTORAL STUDENT
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
APRIL 2026 COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION (CVI) IN A SEMI-RURAL REGION: IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION CONSIDERATIONS.
Read Open Access Publication Here
“Community violence intervention programs are all responsive to incidents of violence, and semirural and rural programs face additional
considerations
when
intervening
in
across
violence
larger coverage areas and in the face of other infrastructure gaps that urban centers may not face to the same extent,” said Devon Ziminski, a postdoctoral fellow at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health. Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DEVON ZIMINSKI, PHD GVRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
APRIL 2026 DEMOGRAPHIC AND CLINICAL SHIFTS AMONG FIREARM SUICIDE DECEDENTS AFTER THE 2020 PURCHASING SURGE
Read Open Access Publication Here
“Those who died by firearm suicide
after
2020
were
more likely to be Black, Asian or from another racial background, and less likely to have received mental health or substance use treatment at any point in their lives,” said Allison E. Bond, an
New Jersey Gun
Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health and the lead author of the study. Read Rutgers Today Release Here
ALLISON BOND, PHD GVFRC ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
APRIL 2026 ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN MEDIA GUN VIOLENCE EXPOSURE (GVE) AND MENTAL HEALTH: A NATIONAL CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY Read Open Access Publication Here
“Findings support existing research that repeated exposure to firearm violence may negatively affect well-being, and that real-world media firearm violence exposure may also have negative implications,” said Devon Ziminski, a postdoctoral fellow at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at the Rutgers School of Public Health.
Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DEVON ZIMINSKI, PHD GVRC POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
APRIL 2026 FIREARM EXPOSURE, HEALTH RISK BEHAVIORS, AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN RURAL YOUTH: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW Read Open Access Publication Here
CATHERINE HEITZ GVRC DOCTOTAL STUDENT
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JUNE 2026 GLUCAGON-LIKE PEPTIDE-1 RECEPTOR AGONIST USE AND VIOLENT CRIME AMONG US ADULTS Read Open Access Publication Here
“The strongest finding in the study was that the well-established link between
impulsivity
and
FINDINGS
violent
behavior was substantially weaker among current GLP-1 users compared to
former
users,”
said
MEDICATION WEAKENING THE LINK
Daniel
Semenza, the lead author of the study as well as the director of research at the
New
Research
Jersey Center
at
Gun
Violence
the
Rutgers
Robbery
School of Public Health and an associate professor with the Rutgers School of Public Health. “As GLP-1 drugs
become
widespread,
it
is
increasingly important
to
understand all of their potential behavioral effects, including those relevant to public safety,” Semenza said.
Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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JUNE 2026 HOW GUN VIOLENCE EXPOSURE INFLUENCES RACIAL HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG ADULTS IN THE UNITED STATES Read Open Access Publication Here
“Gun violence is not only a public safety problem, it is also a public health issue that contributes to racial disparities in health,” said Daniel C. Semenza, director of research at the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center at Rutgers and an associate professor
in
the
Department
of
Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Camden.
at
Rutgers
“Black
and
UniversityHispanic
Americans experience substantially higher
levels
of
gun
violence
exposure, and those differences help explain disparities in both self-rated and chronic health problems.” Read Rutgers Today Release Here
DANIEL SEMENZA, PHD GVRC DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH
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RESEARCH
ADDITIONAL PEER-REVIEWED RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS GVRC researchers contributed to 15 additional peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with their colleagues and scholars across several fields on firearm-related violence and prevention. These publications highlight the connections and shared expertise that aim to help strengthen our understanding of firearm violence, injury, and prevention.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
SEPTEMBER 2025
Stanley, I.H, Finn, J., Flarity, K.M., Ziao, M., Johnson, R.L., Kearns, J.C., Wilver, N.L., Berkowitz, S.J., Anestis, M.D., Betz, M.E., & Simonetti, J. “Project Safe Guard – Trauma (PSG-T): Protocol for a randomized controlled trial of lethal means safety counseling to promote secure firearm storage among individuals with PTSD. Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications.” Journal of Urban Health. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41050843/
OCTOBER 2025
Boccio, Cashen, Dylan Jackson, Alexander Testa, Daniel C. Semenza, & Melissa Jones. “Handgun Carrying and Suicidality: An Analysis of Florida Adolescents.” Injury Prevention. https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2025/11/11/ip-2025-045757
OCTOBER 2025
Dong, Beidi, Daniel C. Semenza, Dylan B. Jackson & Tyler E. Houser. “Fatal Police Shootings and Community Health in the United States, 2014-2018.” American Journal of Criminal Justice. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-025-09862-3
NOVEMBER 2025
Testa, Alexander, Luis Mijares, Daniel C. Semenza, Richard Stansfield, Ian Silver, Dylan B. Jackson, Ana Neumann, Jeffrey Temple, & Rahma Mungia. “Community Firearm Violence and Dental Care Use in Middle Adulthood.” Journal of Urban Health https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11524-025-01015-5
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
JANUARY 2026
Semenza, Daniel & Lester Engels. “What Doesn’t Kill Us, Hurts Us Longer: Gun Violence Exposure and Chronic Pain in the United States.” BMC Public Health. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-026-26386-5
JANUARY 2026
Rodriguez, T.R., Bond, A.E., Bandel, S.L., Collins, C., Anestis, M.D., & Anestis, J.C. (2024). “Screening for patient firearm access among mental health care providers.” JAMA Network Open. 110.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.57295
JANUARY 2026
Testa, Alexander, Karyn Fu, Muhammed Ahmed, Daniel C. Semenza, Dylan B. Jackson, Sandra McKay, Kyle T. Ganson, & Jason M. Nagata. “Perceived Neighborhood Safety and Firearm Secure Storage: Findings from the 2024 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.” Injury Epidemiology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40621-026-00657-6
APRIL 2026
Heitz, Catherine, Richard Stansfield, Daniel C. Semenza, & Cynthia Ayres. “Firearm Exposure, Health Risk Behaviors, and Health Outcomes in Rural Youth: An Integrative Review.” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248380261439136
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
MAY 2026
Marian E. Betz, Allison E. Bond, & David W. Hancock, “Firearm Safety and Responsibility Across the Lifespan.” JAMA. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2026.0502
MAY 2026
Testa, Alexander, Jennifer Thompson, Chelsea Carriker, Dylan Bk. Jackson, Daniel C. Semenza, & Jack Tsai. “Prevalence, Correlates, and Patterns of Leaving Firearms Unattended in Vehicles Among US Firearm Owners.” Injury Epidemiology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40621-026-00688-z
JUNE 2026
Schildkraut, J., Bond, A.E., & Anestis, M.D. “Prevalence and timing of suicidal ideation, preparation, and attempts among mass shooting survivors. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior.” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sltb.70120
JUNE 2026
Khemani, Aisha, Daniel C. Semenza, Dylan B. Jackson, Sandra McKay & Alexander Testa. “State Firearm Policy Context and Household Firearm Storage in 13 US States: Findings from the 2023 BRFSS.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2026.108339
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GVRC LED RESEARCH GVRC research examines firearm suicide and interpersonal violence, led by Mike Anestis, Daniel Semenza, and Allison Bond, in collaboration with doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. Together, this work advances understanding and informs evidence-based approaches to prevention.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Annual IPSOS Survey This is the sixth year of this survey assessing issues related to firearm ownership. This year, samples are being collected from a nationally representative sample. This project allows 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. This year, we are also including an experimental component that will test how best to frame messages on secure firearm storage so as to facilitate safer homes both within and beyond New Jersey. The survey is set with a target of 7,500 completed surveys. Survey negotiations took place during this reporting period and survey roll-out and findings will be included in the final report.
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RESEARCH FUNDED BY THE GVRC
The GVRC awarded several research studies during this grant cycle. Most of these studies span two years and are therefore going to be spent down during the no-cost extension period.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Mapping CVI Training Models Across Newark, Los Angeles, and Chicago: Comparative Insights for Scaling and Standardizing Training Infrastructure PI: Asia S. Ivey, Ph.D., Co-PI(s): Shani Buggs, Ph.D., MPH, Nicole Kravitz-Wirtz, Ph.D. Co-I: Kristian Jones, Ph.D., The Regents of the University of California, Davis Campus
AWARD AMOUNT: $31,713 Firearm violence remains a persistent public health crisis in the United States, disproportionately burdening lowincome communities and communities of color. In response, community violence intervention (CVI) programs have become vital frontline strategies for reducing shootings, supporting survivors, and strengthening community safety. Three cities, Newark, Los Angeles, and Chicago, stand out as influential models of CVI practice and training. Newark’s Community Street Team (NCST) represents one of the most fully developed municipal-community partnerships in the U.S. and serves as a statewide hub for community safety in New Jersey.
Los Angeles has evolved gang intervention into a citywide CVI infrastructure anchored by the Los Angeles Violence Intervention Coalition (LAVIC), which unites over twenty community-based organizations into a coordinated network. Moreover, Chicago has played a foundational role in the field as the birthplace of the Cure Violence model and now continues to advance professionalization through initiatives such as the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academic (CVILA). Together, Newark, Los Angeles, and Chicago serve as national reference points, offering diverse yet complementary models that programs across the country frequently adopt or adapt in building their own CVI infrastructures.
This project proposes a Newark-anchored comparative pilot study of CVI training infrastructures (case management, safety planning, other direct service delivery), with Los Angeles and Chicago as reference cases. By examining how research methods, data use and structural frameworks are integrated, or excluded, from training, this study will generate critical insights into the strengths, gaps, and opportunities across three leading models. This project is designed to seed a larger, multi-year research agenda that aims to develop and evaluate a critical, practitioner-centered research methods curriculum for CVI professionals. While all three cities provide influential CVI models, Newark’s municipal community partnership will uniquely strengthen its training infrastructure, offering critical lessons for the professionalization and expansion of CVI workforce development across New Jersey and nationally.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
From Perceptions to Practice: Connecting Firearm Behaviors and Implementation to the Effectiveness of New Jersey’s Child Access Prevention (CAP) Laws PI: Brent R. Klein, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina; Key Members: New Jersey-Based Advisory Board (5 members), Brynn Scheutter (PhD Student RA), Alex Castronovo (Data Scientist)
AWARD AMOUNT: $184,471 This project evaluates how Child Access Prevention (CAP) laws influence firearm behaviors by combining a statewide survey experiment with a county-level CAP Implementation Index for New Jersey. Study 1 is a randomized online experiment with 7,500 adults, oversampling firearm-owning households and households with minors. Participants are independently assigned to a CAP-salience prime or a neutral control, and to vignettes that vary threat intensity (high vs low) drawn from validated threat and safety domains. Outcomes are threat appraisals and scenario-specific firearm behavioral intentions measured with validated scales. A Solomon-style design guards against measurement reactivity. Analyses use Bayesian multilevel logistic and proportional-odds models with preregistered estimates. Mediation is prespecified for the threat pathway only. We also test a confirmatory hypothesis that CAP salience buffers fear by attenuating the effect of high-threat scenarios on CAP-concordant storage intentions. Power simulations indicate the design can detect modest effects.
Study
2
develops
a
monthly
county-level
CAP
Implementation Index for 2012 to present, quantifying enforcement salience across prosecutions, attorney general
guidance,
coverage.
Sources
requests,
agency
prevention include
activity,
court
and
media
records,
OPRA
communications,
outreach
documentation, and systematic media coding. The Index will be validated for convergent and discriminant properties and tested for robustness and disseminated in a dashboard with public code. We will link the Index to firearm homicides and suicides (CDC WONDER crosschecked with the Murder Accountability Project), childinvolved shootings (Gun Violence Archive), and firearm thefts (FBI NIBRS) using Bayesian spatiotemporal difference-in-differences,
event
studies,
and
augmented synthetic controls, with negative controls, placebo exposures, and prior-sensitivity checks. Together, the studies provide an integrated test of two pathways: threat scenarios influence behavior indirectly through appraisal, and CAP salience influences behavior directly.
Study
2
evaluates
whether
county-level
implementation intensity magnifies or conditions these effects, informing when and how CAP laws are most effective.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Closing The Gun Show Loophole and the Iron Pipeline of Guns Flowing into New Jersey PI: David S. Kirk, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
AWARD AMOUNT: $21,782 This study examines whether the 2024 federal rule change intended to close the “gun show loophole” altered interstate firearm trafficking into New Jersey and across the United States. Although New Jersey maintains some of the nation’s strongest firearm regulations, more than 80% of crime guns recovered in the state originate elsewhere, particularly from states along the I-95 “Iron Pipeline” with comparatively weaker gun laws. Existing research suggests that private-party firearm sales conducted without background checks have contributed substantially to illegal gun diversion and interstate trafficking. In response, the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act prompted a federal regulatory change, effective May 20, 2024, that broadened the definition of firearm dealers “engaged in the business” of selling firearms, thereby requiring more sellers to obtain federal licenses and conduct background checks.
This proposed study evaluates whether the rule change reduced the flow of crime guns from states lacking universal background check laws into New Jersey and nationwide. Using annual firearm trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives covering 2014–2025, the analysis will assess changes in the number and origin of crime guns recovered by law enforcement. Two complementary quasi-experimental approaches, a difference-in-differences design and an event study framework, will compare states without universal background check requirements prior to the rule change (treatment group) to states that already mandated such checks (control group). The national analysis will examine all interstate firearm trafficking dyads among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study contributes to the literature on firearm policy diffusion and interstate gun trafficking by testing whether strengthening federal oversight of private firearm sales can disrupt established trafficking patterns from low-regulation to high-regulation states. The findings will provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of the federal loophole rule change and its implications for firearm violence prevention policy in the United States.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
A Comparative Study of Temporary Firearm Removal Preferences Among Firearm Owners PI: Emma O'Brien, BA, Clinical Psychology Doctoral Student Co-I: Ray Tucker, PhD, Associate Professor, Louisiana State University
AWARD AMOUNT: $1,593
Secure firearm storage and temporary firearm restriction are critical to suicide prevention efforts narrowly and firearm violence initiatives more broadly. Although firearms are used in less than 5% of suicide attempts, they account for over half of all suicide deaths. Concerningly, non-secure storage practices (e.g., storing a firearm loaded, unlocked, or not in a safe) are common among the United States general population and are linked to increased suicide risk. Temporary removal of firearms and other lethal means has consistently been shown to reduce suicides, whereas secure storage of firearms has led to mixed findings regarding reduced suicide risk. Thus, temporary removal of firearms may be necessary to reduce suicides in some instances. The present study seeks to address these gaps through three primary aims. First, it compares firearm owners’ willingness to temporarily store firearms with a trusted individual versus a firearm retailer. Second, it examines how duration of removal and perceived suicide risk reduction influence willingness to temporarily restrict firearm access across both storage options among firearm owners nationwide. Third, it evaluates these same relationships specifically among residents of New Jersey.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Does Gunshot Detection Technology Improve Shooting Survivability? A Matched Quasi-Experiment in Paterson PI: Eric L. Piza, Lipman Family Professor, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Northeastern University; Co-I: John Shjarback, Associate Professor, Law and Justice Studies Department, Rowan University
AWARD AMOUNT: $200,000 Gunshot detection technology (GDT) has dramatically increased in popularity over recent decades. The Electric Frontier Foundation’s “Atlas of Surveillance” currently lists more than 230 agencies using a GDT system, 14 in New Jersey. This count may be an underestimate of GDT use, as SoundThinking, vendor of the industry-leading ShotSpotter GDT, reports that over 300 agencies have adopted their platform to date. As GDT has become a core component of urban gun violence prevention programs, questions regarding return on investment have taken central focus throughout the United States. The ShotSpotter system costs between $65K and $90K per square mile per year, according to figures reported by SoundThinking. In Paterson, NJ, the proposed study setting, the GDT system was installed in a 2 square-mile area in 2011 with the GDT target area covering about 4.5 square miles today. According to SoundThinking estimates, it will cost between $292,500 and $405,000 per year to maintain the current GDT coverage area. It is fair to ask whether these funds would be better allocated elsewhere, specifically regarding other gun violence-related initiatives. Paterson has long struggled with issues of serious gun violence and structural disadvantage. From 2019 – 2021, Paterson experienced a gun violence rate of 279 incidents per 100,000 residents – nearly seven times higher than that of the state-wide rate of 40 incidents per 100,000 residents. Over 23% of Paterson residents live below the poverty line as compared to 9.7% in New Jersey as a whole. In short, there are plenty of needs that GDT funding could alternatively be allocated to in Paterson. The proposed project will contribute to the scientific research evidence on gun violence prevention and GDT as a life-saving tool. Building upon the methodology incorporated in the principal investigator’s analysis of GDT in Chicago, IL and Kansas City, MO, the study will conduct a matched quasiexperiment to rigorously evaluate GDT’s impact on shooting mortality rates in Paterson, NJ. We will use entropy balancing to create statistically equivalent treatment and control conditions, mimicking the conditions of a randomized experiment. Five research questions then explore GDT’s ability to detect shooting incidents and its effect on police response time, EMS hospital travel time, and shooting survivability.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Exploring the Psychosocial Impacts of Facial Gunshot Wounds PI: Eric Wesner, M.S., Florida State University
AWARD AMOUNT: $4,204 Firearm-related injuries to the face are rare but devastating, resulting in lasting disfigurement, functional impairments, and potential neurocognitive deficits. Yet the long-term psychological outcomes of facial gunshot wound (GSW) survivors remain largely unexamined. Existing evidence is limited to a single small study (Öztürk et al., 2006) and broader firearm or maxillofacial trauma research, which suggests high rates of depression, PTSD, anxiety, and substance misuse. Survivors also face unique challenges related to visible disfigurement, including stigma, social withdrawal, and diminished self-esteem. However, it is unclear whether facial GSW survivors’ psychosocial trajectories differ meaningfully from those of other traumatic facial injury patients or population-level benchmarks. Moreover, the relationship between cognitive deficits and psychosocial functioning in this population has never been tested.
The proposed study addresses these gaps by employing a mixed-methods design that
combines
assessment,
structured
diagnostic
standardized
self-report
measures, and grounded theory–informed qualitative interviews. This design will allow for a comprehensive characterization of psychological health and functioning, subgroup identification (e.g., resilient vs. distressed), and extraction of treatment targets to inform tailored interventions. Findings will have implications for clinical care, rehabilitation, and policy regarding survivors of firearm-related facial trauma.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Development and Validation of a Measure of Online/News Firearm Exposure Among Emerging Adults: Associations with Mental Health Outcomes PI: Esther Lee, PhD Candidate, Health Behavior and Health Equity and Scientific Computing / Pre-Doctoral Trainee, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan CO-I: Justin E Heinze, PhD, Associate Professor, Health Behavior & Health Equity Associate Professor, Combined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan
AWARD AMOUNT: $5,000 This study examines how exposure to firearm-related content through online platforms and news media affects the mental health of emerging adults (ages 18– 24), a group disproportionately impacted by firearm violence in the United States. Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death in this population, and emerging adults experience both direct exposures (e.g., nonfatal firearm injuries) and indirect exposures (e.g., hearing gunshots, witnessing violence, or losing loved ones). While prior research has linked firearm exposure to adverse psychological outcomes, little is known about how digital and media-based firearm exposures contribute to mental health risk, despite the widespread use of social media among emerging adults. Existing violence exposure measures are limited because they focus primarily on adolescents, emphasize generalized violence rather than firearm-specific experiences, and fail to capture online or news-related exposure. To address these gaps, the study will develop and psychometrically validate a new instrument specifically designed to assess online and news firearm exposure among emerging adults, including distinctions between passive engagement (e.g., scrolling or viewing content) and active engagement (e.g., posting, sharing, or commenting on firearm-related content). The study also investigates how online and news firearm exposure relates to mental health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and insomnia. It is hypothesized that greater exposure to firearmrelated content will be associated with worse mental health symptoms, particularly among individuals who engage with such content passively and those with prior in-person firearm exposure. Grounded in developmental and public health frameworks, the project conceptualizes emerging adulthood as a uniquely vulnerable life stage characterized by significant social, psychological, and neurobiological transitions. By creating a validated firearm-specific exposure measure and examining how different modes of digital engagement influence psychological well-being, the study seeks to advance understanding of firearm violence as both an in-person and digital public health issue and inform future interventions tailored to the online environments where emerging adults increasingly encounter and process violence.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Pediatric Nurses’ Lived Experiences with Firearm Screening and Counseling: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis PI: Gretchen S. Goldman, PhD(c), MSN, RN, Nursing student Co-I: Dr. Alison Colbert, Ph.D., APRN, BC, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, Duquesne University
AWARD AMOUNT: $3,400
The purpose of this study is to explore pediatric nurses’ lived experiences with firearm screening and secure storage counseling. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this study will provide nursing-specific insights into how pediatric nurses perceive and interpret their role, while identifying contextual, institutional, and individual factors that affect their willingness and ability to address firearm safety with patients and their families. Findings will inform the development of future interventions, educational initiatives, and policies that support pediatric nurses in engaging families in firearm injury prevention. This study will contribute to the development of future research aimed at equipping pediatric nurses with the knowledge, confidence, and support needed to effectively engage families in firearm safety discussions and inform strategies to reduce pediatric firearm injuries and deaths. The specific aims of this study are: 1) Explore how pediatric nurses experience and interpret their role in firearm screening and secure storage counseling across various healthcare settings, and 2) Identify facilitators and barriers that influence pediatric nurses’ ability and willingness to screen for firearm access and provide secure firearm storage counseling.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
A Randomized Control Trial of a Secure Firearm Storage App to Increase Secure Firearm Storage Behaviors in Families with Young Children: FIRST STEP (Firearm Secure Storage Experiment) PI: Jennifer Necci Dineen, PhD, School of Public Policy UConn ARMS Center for Gun Injury Prevention, University of Connecticut; Co-I: Eric Fleegler, MD, MPH, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, MGH Gun Violence Prevention Center, Mass General Hospital. Co-I: Kerri Raissian, PhD, MPA, Yale School of Public Health. Yale University
AWARD AMOUNT: $199,830 This study addresses a critical gap in firearm injury prevention research by examining how firearm owners perceive and engage with secure storage options. Secure firearm storage is one of the few evidence-based strategies shown to reduce unintentional shootings, suicides,
and
compliance
school-related
remains
low,
firearm
often
incidents,
because
yet
available
interventions do not align with owners’ preferences. Public health programs commonly distribute cable and trigger locks, while many firearm owners prefer lock boxes and safes—particularly biometric devices that allow rapid access. In addition, several newer storage technologies have entered the market without evaluation of their usability or adoption potential. This study aims to identify the features firearm owners value in storage devices, such as accessibility, reliability, cost, and aesthetics, as well as barriers that limit use, particularly among households with children. Understanding these preferences is essential for designing
user-informed
interventions
that
improve
uptake and promote safer storage practices. To achieve these goals, the study will conduct interviews assessing firearm owners’ perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of common and emerging storage devices, including cable locks, trigger locks, biometric and keyed safes, barrel locks, holster locks, and clamshell locks. Findings will inform refinement of FIRST STEP, an app-based intervention developed at UConn that tailors storage recommendations, educational content, and device selection tools to user preferences. The intervention will then be evaluated through a randomized controlled trial to determine whether user-driven device selection increases acceptability, secure storage behaviors, and adoption of safe practices among families with young children. By integrating firearm owners’ perspectives into prevention strategies, the study seeks to develop more effective, evidence-based approaches to reducing firearm-related injuries and deaths.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Understanding The Roles That Young Women’s Interpersonal Relationships with Men Can Play in Perpetuating and Preventing Gun Violence in Newark, New Jersey PI: Nancy La Vigne, PhD, Dean, Rutgers School of Criminal Justice. Co-I(s): Ebony Ruhland, PhD, Associate Professor, Rutgers School of Criminal Justice; Alia Berry, MSW, Founder and Executive Director, The Village Revival Project
Award Amount: $ 199,997 This exploratory study examines the interpersonal relationships between young women and men involved in gun violence in Newark, with a focus on understanding how young women may inadvertently or intentionally contribute to the escalation or prevention of violence. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, the project will engage young Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) women living in high-violence neighborhoods to document the cultural, social, behavioral, and contextual factors shaping their experiences and roles within these dynamics. Conducted in partnership with community experts and individuals with lived experience, the study seeks to center perspectives that are often overlooked in discussions of gun violence and to generate community-informed knowledge about prevention strategies.
The project will also use participant input to co-develop and pilot a public awareness campaign aimed at young women in communities heavily affected by gun violence, while evaluating its effectiveness and creating tools for replication in similar settings. Although exploratory in nature, the study addresses an important gap in violence prevention research by recognizing young women as potential agents of intervention and community change rather than peripheral observers. By combining lived experience, community engagement, and practical intervention development, the project aims to produce scalable, community-driven strategies that promote safety, accountability, and resilience both in Newark and in other violence-impacted communities.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Adapting Secure Firearm Storage Interventions for the Next Generation of Firearm Owners PI: Samantha E. Daruwala, PhD, Research Assistant Professor; MPI: Nicholas Allan, PhD, Assistant Professor Co-I(s): Melanie Bozzay, PhD, Assistant Professor; Grace Cho, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar; Laura Prater, PhD, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University
AWARD AMOUNT: $ 184,996 This study addresses firearm suicide prevention among underrepresented racial and ethnic firearm owners by developing and evaluating a culturally responsive intervention to promote secure firearm storage. Nearly 60% of firearm deaths in the United States are suicides, and non-secure firearm storage substantially increases suicide risk. Although lethal means counseling (LMC) has been shown to encourage safer storage practices, existing interventions have primarily been tested in White male populations and may not adequately address the beliefs, experiences, and psychological barriers shaping firearm storage behaviors in diverse communities. Guided by the protective model of firearm ownership, the study recognizes that firearms are often kept accessible due to perceived threats, mistrust in institutions, and intolerance of uncertainty (IU), which can make secure storage feel incompatible with self-protection. To address these barriers, the project combines Project Safe Guard–Lethal Means Counseling (PSG-LMC), a motivational interviewing–based intervention, with Challenging Uncertainty–Enhanced (CUE), a cognitivebehavioral intervention targeting intolerance of uncertainty.
The study will use stakeholder input from firearm owners, clinicians, and community members to culturally adapt the combined intervention and develop implementation materials designed for scalability. Researchers will then pilot the intervention among firearm owners from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, including a substantial sample of New Jersey residents, to assess its acceptability, feasibility, usability, and preliminary clinical effects. Participants will be randomized to receive the interventions in different sequences to examine whether intervention order influences reductions in intolerance of uncertainty or improvements in secure storage behaviors. The project also evaluates whether the intervention increases willingness to adopt secure firearm storage practices over time. By integrating psychological mechanisms with firearm safety interventions, the study aims to create a stakeholderinformed, culturally responsive approach to reducing firearm suicide and injury risk in populations that have been historically underrepresented in firearm prevention research.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Mothers and Sons: Community Dialogues on Gun Violence, Manhood, and Mental Health in Paterson PI: Sheetal Ranjan, Professor, Justice Studies, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Montclair State University
AWARD AMOUNT: $ 50,956 Gun violence remains one of the leading causes of death and trauma among Black and Hispanic males in the United States, with particularly acute impacts in Paterson, New Jersey. Recent years have seen a notable drop in violent crime following state intervention, yet sustainable, community-driven strategies are urgently needed to maintain this progress and address the root causes. While much research has focused on broad systemic factors, the vital role of Black and Hispanic maternal figures—mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and other caregivers—in shaping family attitudes and behaviors around gun violence, manhood, and mental health is underexplored. These maternal caregivers are often the primary source of support, supervision, and guidance for young men, but their unique strategies, challenges, and cultural resources have not been systematically documented. This study aims to: (1) describe the monitoring and communication patterns used by Black and Hispanic maternal figures in Paterson when discussing gun violence, manhood, and mental health with boys and young men ages 12–29. (2) Identify barriers and facilitators to effective communication about gun violence, manhood, and mental health within these families, capturing perspectives from both youth (ages 12–17, paired with caregivers) and young adults (ages 18–29). (3) Explore the influence of community and cultural factors on these conversations, and identify resources that families use or wish they had to support healthy dialogue and coping. By centering the voices of Black and Hispanic maternal caregivers and their sons, this project aims to generate actionable, community-informed insights that will guide the development of family-based interventions and policy recommendations tailored to the realities of Paterson’s most affected communities.
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GVRC EVENTS The GVRC hosted events that shared research, engaged stakeholders, strengthened partnerships, and advanced collaborative, evidence-based approaches to preventing gun violence.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC SUMMIT- SEPT 2026 The GVRC Summit is a time when researchers, policymakers, and community members engage in meaningful dialogue and develop actionable strategies to prevent gun violence in New Jersey. This year’s speakers offered diverse perspectives on intervention, prevention, and public health solutions. This Year’s Speakers: Alex Gimenez-Santana, PhD – Executive Director of the Newark Public Safety Collaborative (NPSC) & Associate Professor at Rutgers University. Jennifer Paruk, PhD, MPH – Research Investigator, Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, University of Michigan. Rey Chavis – Executive Director, Newark Community Street Team. Gala True, PhD – Co-Founder and Co-Director, The Armory Project & Richard A. Culbertson and Susan M. Leary Endowed Professor at LSU School of Medicine.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC SUMMIT- SEPT 2026 Highlights from the 2026 GVRC Summit include insights from researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community leaders who came together to share ideas and advance solutions to prevent gun violence.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
APRIL 2026 – FIREARM SUICIDE PREVENTION FELLOWSHIP TRAINING DAY On April 23, 2026, the GVRC hosted its Firearm Suicide Prevention Fellowship Training Day at Rutgers University, welcoming 21 trainees, community leaders, and scholars from across the United States, selected from nearly 70 applications. Sessions included presentations on: Firearm storage decision-making Suicide prevention among older adults Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) Artificial intelligence applications in firearm injury research Community violence and suicide intersections The
event
workshops
also
included
on
grant
professional
funding,
development
academic
careers,
mentorship, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Smallgroup mentorship sessions paired trainees with leading firearm injury prevention researchers for individualized feedback and networking. Participants engaged in a collaborative writing day where fellows worked with faculty mentors on conference submissions and future manuscripts using GVRC datasets.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ON FIREARM SUICIDE Led by Allison Bond, GVRC assistant professor, SURFs was an eight-week summer program that provided Rutgers undergraduate students with hands-on experience in research, science communication, and firearm suicide prevention. Trainees developed foundational research skills while learning to translate complex findings into clear, accessible, and engaging content.
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GVRC Alumni & Scholars
GVRC
EXTERNALLY FUNDED PROJECTS
The New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (GVRC) received grant funding from a range of external partners to support its research, policy analysis, and community-focused initiatives. These grants have allowed the GVRC to collaborate with leading scholars, the community, and organizations to expand its impact and generate evidence-based solutions to reduce gun violence.
PRESENTED BY
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Project Safe Guard National Guard Roll-Out FUNDED BY THE HENRY M. JACKSON FOUNDATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF MILITARY MEDICINE
$1,675,662
Project Safe Guard (PSG) is an evidence-based, peer-delivered primary prevention initiative designed to reduce firearm suicides and injuries within the military. Sponsored by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), the program equips National Guard personnel with training on safe, secure firearm storage. The National Guard rollout adapts previous iterations of PSG into a broad, scaled initiative. Research for the roll-out has involved training facilitators across several pilot states, who are then tasked with bringing safety techniques directly to Guardsmen in their individual units. The overarching goal is to weave firearm suicide prevention into the standard culture of safety within the military. In the first 18 months of the project, the initiative trained approximately 1,000 National Guard personnel, distributing biometric firearm lockboxes to each attendee. In June 2026, the project will launch the train-the-trainer component of the project, which will facilitate complete integration of PSG into the Integrated Primary Prevention Workforce and enable the National Guard to sustain the trainings on their own, thereby ensuring that PSG is a regular component of life in the National Guard.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Augmenting Suicide Prevention Interventions for Service Members (ASPIS)
FUNDED THROUGH THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY - $318,788
ASPIS is a massive Department of Defense-funded research initiative led by The Ohio State University and in partnership with the GVRC. It is the largest suicide prevention research project ever conducted in the U.S. military, operating out of STRIVE (Suicide and Trauma Reduction Initiative for Veterans). Led by clinical psychologist Dr. Craig Bryan, the project answers a critical question in military mental health: Which suicide prevention strategies work best, delivered how, by whom, and under which circumstances for specific service members?
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
The Armory Project Funded through partnership with the New Jersey Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) - $111,638
Building off our prior work that established the New Jersey Safe Firearm Storage Map (https://gunviolenceresearchcenter.rutgers.edu/resources/nj-firearm-storage-map), this initiative leverages our working relationship with the developers of TAP to optimize that infrastructure, increase awareness about the utility and availability of away-from-home firearm storage, and serve to serve public safety by reducing the number of individuals in crisis with ready access to firearms in their homes. TAP is a sustainable program that, once established, can help maintain an environment that fosters secure firearm storage away from home during crises in a way that aligns with New Jersey’s firearm policies and which acutely reduces the risk for suicide, unintentional shootings, lethal domestic violence, and firearm theft. This project will also serve to strengthen the GVRC’s relationships with the firearm community across New Jersey, facilitating future work aimed at leveraging credible voices within that community to disseminate information on the importance of secure firearm storage both within and outside the home.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Firearm Life Plan Research for Older Adults FUNDED BY THE FUND FOR A SAFER FUTURE - $96,776. Led by Allison Bond at Rutgers and the GVRC, this recently awarded project examines the effectiveness of the Firearm Life Plan in helping older adults make decisions regarding firearm access, storage, and safety as they age. The study reflects the GVRC’s growing focus on lifespan approaches to firearm injury prevention and suicide prevention.
Stoneleigh Grant FUNDED BY THE STONELEIGH FOUNDATION – $525,000 The Stoneleigh grant is a fellowship focused on the impacts of youth gun violence exposure in Philadelphia. The fellowship provides three years of funding (spanning 2025 to 2027) for his project, "Gun Violence Exposure, Mental Health, and Suicide among Philadelphia Youth." The project, which is conducted in collaboration with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), includes quantitative clinical data analysis and inperson interviews with youth in Philadelphia.
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GVRC CONFERENCES & PRESENTATIONS The GVRC participated in external conferences to share research, strengthen collaborations, and advance strategies for gun violence prevention. These events provided opportunities to present findings, engage with experts, and promote evidence-based solutions.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms - Nov 2025 GVRC personnel attended and presented extensively at the 2025 National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms in Phoenix, Arizona. The GVRC team participated in three days of presentations, workshops, networking, and collaborative meetings with national firearm injury prevention researchers. The team delivered five poster presentations and five oral presentations covering: Project Safe Guard firearm storage trainings in the United States National Guard Changing demographics in firearm suicide Racial health disparities linked to gun violence exposure Perceptions of firearm laws and safety among Black firearm owners Daniel Semenza participated in the conference’s “Early-Career Mentoring Breakfast,” providing guidance to emerging scholars in firearm violence prevention research. GVRC personnel also moderated four conference sessions and hosted a workshop titled “Research to Impact: Communicating the Science of Gun Violence Prevention,” which focused on translating scientific findings into public communication and policy engagement. Allison Bond, alongside Mike Anestis and Daniel Semenza, presented “Research to Impact: Communicating the Science of Gun Violence Prevention.” Mike Anestis led several presentations: “Changes in firearm intentions and behaviors after the 2024 United States presidential election.” “Implementation of universal Project Safe Guard trainings in the United States National Guard: Incorporating lethal means counseling trainings into ongoing primary prevention efforts.”
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
American Society of Criminology Conference - Nov 2025
All GVRC researchers attended the 2025 American Society of Criminology Conference, where postdoctoral researchers Sultan Altikriti and Devon Ziminski presented research on community violence intervention and police diversion programs in New Jersey. GVRC Executive Director Mike Anestis presented “The impact of lethal means counseling on openness to out-of-home firearm storage: Results from Project Safe Guard.” Additionally, doctoral student Brielle Savage received the prestigious Ruth D. Peterson Fellowship for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, recognizing contributions to criminological research and equity.
National Research Conference for the Prevention of Firearm-Related Harms - Nov 2025 Postdoctoral researcher Kim Burke presented research at the conference on “Black Firearm Owners’ Understandings and Responses to Firearm Laws.” The presentation reflected the GVRC’s growing integration of behavioral science, suicide prevention, and firearm injury prevention research.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
BRIDGS' Guns in Society Symposium - Feb 2026
Postdoctoral researcher Kim Burke presented research at the conference on “How Black Gun Owners
Navigate
Self-Defense
Laws:
Resources and Private Markets.” student
Brielle
Savage
presented
Free
Doctoral “
An
Examination of Youth Engagement & Its Role in Firearm Violence Across Four Major U.S. Cities.” These presentations reflected the GVRC’s growing
integration
of
behavioral
science,
suicide prevention, and firearm injury prevention research.
Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference - March 2026
Research assistant Kati Tanguy presented research at the conference on behavioral health and firearmrelated issues. The presentation reflected the GVRC’s growing integration of behavioral science, suicide prevention, and firearm injury prevention research.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Northwestern University Implementation Science Academy - April 2026
GVRC’s postdoctoral fellow, Devon Ziminski was accepted into the academy. This is an annual methodological institute offered through the Department of Medical Social Sciences and in partnership with the Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science at Northwestern University. Included are preacademy foundational webinars, a 3-day in-person project-based learning intensive, and post-academy technical assistance to ensure successful project execution and mastery learning.
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GVRC REFLECTIONS FROM GVRC ALUMNI The GVRC is proud to support the next generation of firearm violence researchers through mentorship, collaboration, and research experience. Our postdoctoral alumni and trainees have successfully transitioned into careers and fields related to firearm violence research and prevention, continuing to advance this important work.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
John F. Gunn III, PhD
I joined the GVRC as a postdoctoral associate right after completing my doctoral work in Family Science & Human Development at Montclair State University (Spring 2019) and was a part of the center until Spring 2021 when I took on a full-time tenure-track faculty position at Gwynedd Mercy University as an Assistant Professor of Psychology. My time at the GVRC was a wonderful experience and I often reflect on my time there with my undergraduate students while lecturing. I think one of the things that really stood out about the center is its multidisciplinary nature. Gun violence is not something that is limited to a single discipline, its impact stretches far and wide. Given that, the center draws from expertise in psychology, medicine, public health, criminal justice, social work, and various other disciplines. I think it is such a strength of the center that it is not siloed and really allows for diversity of thought and expertise. I would also say that another great strength of the center is its focus on working with everyone who might contribute to reducing gun violence. Whether it was working directly with communities most impacted by gun violence, or working directly with gun retailers and gun industry voices, the GVRC wanted to be effective and leadership there understood that that required bringing everyone to the table. My research focuses exclusively on suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Given this, my time at the GVRC was focused on understanding the role of guns in suicide. To this end, I worked with a number of scholars associated with the center on gun access and suicide. The first project looked at US state laws and firearm deaths from 1991-2017 and was published in the Journal of Public Health (Gunn et al., 2021). Findings indicated that states with greater numbers of firearm laws had reduced firearm suicide and homicide rates compared to those with fewer laws. In addition to this, I also examined the relationship between gun laws and youth gun carrying behavior using the YRBSS data from 2005-2017. My time at the GVRC shaped a lot about the work I do now. Though my research at present has moved away from a gun violence focus and is more centered on suicidal thoughts and behaviors among at risk population (e.g., LGBTQ+ persons), many of the skills I learned at the GVRC have been instrumental in my current research. The multidisciplinary nature of the center (and my graduate education) aided in moving me towards a more holistic, bioecological approach to examining suicide. I also gained incredibly important training in public health research, in working with large datasets, in community-based work, and applied prevention science. Those skills I have carried with me into much of the work I do. I also benefited immensely from the collaborative nature of the center. I worked alongside undergraduate, graduate, postdocs, and faculty while at the GVRC, sometimes in a mentorship role, sometimes as a colleague. Those experiences were incredible and really prepared me to go off and work in collaborative settings in academia.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Jennifer Paruk, PhD, MPH During my two and a half years as a postdoctoral research fellow at the NJGVRC, I learned from an incredible multidisciplinary team of researchers, which broadened my understanding of firearm injury prevention. A big focus of my work was listening to firearm owners about their experiences, which deepened my knowledge of how diverse experiences, including cultural backgrounds, racism, exposure to violence, occupational demands, and other contextual factors shape attitudes towards firearm and injury prevention. I have also learned so much about temporary out-of-home storage as a voluntary option for reducing firearm access during moments of heightened risk, and what changes that states (including New Jersey!) need to better support families in those moments. My time with the GVRC helped to prepare me for a career in firearm injury prevention, and I am now a research investigator at the University of Michigan's Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention.
Esprene Liddell-Quintyn, PhD
My tenure at GVRC has been foundational in advancing my community-engaged research, enabling me to cultivate substantive, equity-centered partnerships with community-based organizations throughout New Jersey. Among my most significant professional insights is the recognition that sustained investment in collaborative relationships
with
community
partners
is
essential,
not
only
for
building
organizational capacity, but for legitimizing and centering their lived experiences within the research process. GVRC-funded initiatives I led included a Day of Dialogue that convened a diverse cross-sector audience of academics, high school students, and community organizations to engage in critical discourse around firearm-related issues in Newark, NJ. These efforts have culminated in four peer-reviewed publications (listed below), supported by GVRC-funds, reflecting the program's direct contribution to my scholarly productivity. Overall, the postdoctoral program significantly advanced my professional development by sharpening my research methodology, expanding my technical expertise, and equipping me with the collaborative and leadership skills essential for a research career.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Jayna Moceri-Brooks, PhD, RN
My time with the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center was a very formative part of my development as a researcher. I received consistent, invaluable mentorship from the GVRC leadership team and had the opportunity to collaborate with researchers across the country on a portfolio of Department of Defense–funded projects. Through this work, I gained hands-on experience with a wide range of research methods and contributed to and led multiple peer-reviewed publications focused on suicide prevention within the military. One of my biggest takeaways was the value of working within an interdisciplinary team to produce policy-relevant research. Overall, the postdoc built a strong foundation for me as a nurse scientist and lasting relationships with colleagues in this field whose work and collaboration I deeply value.
Kimberly C. Burke, PhD My experience at the GVRC has transformed my scholarship by teaching me to examine the centrality of gun violence to my research areas of racial inequality and criminal legal systems. During my postdoc, I led projects examining how Black gun owners navigate distinct regulatory contexts, interrogating how structural violence shapes the implementation of gun laws, and exploring how exposure to and fear of police violence shapes suicidal risk among Black Americans. Beyond the research, the GVRC deepened my understanding of what it looks like to support early career scholars through intentional collaboration, centering emerging voices, and foregrounding shared values in all aspects of the work. Thanks to the opportunities afforded me by this postdoc, I will carry this work forward as an incoming Assistant Professor at Arizona State University as part of the Bringing Research and Innovation into the Debate on Guns and Society Initiative.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
Nazsa S. Baker, PhD
My time at the GVRC was formative in ways I didn't fully anticipate. Being embedded in a research center explicitly dedicated to firearm violence in my home state gave me the mentorship, the community, and the methodological grounding to pursue work that I have been passionate about. A key takeaway for me was the value of interdisciplinary rigor and mentorship. During my postdoc, I developed and deepened work at the intersection of firearm violence intervention and survivorship, laying the groundwork for the research I now lead at UCSF's Wraparound Project, a hospital based violence intervention program in San Francisco, CA. I want to thank Mike, Dan and Thurman for their mentorship but most importantly their mentorship to underrepresented early career scholars who are dedicated to making changes in the firearm violence field.
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GVRC COMMUNICATIONS This section highlights the GVRC’s efforts to translate and share gun violence prevention research through media coverage, interviews, podcasts, digital content, and other publicfacing communications—expanding the reach and accessibility of the Center’s work.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
At the GVRC, we believe research should extend
beyond
communities, and
academia
to
policymakers,
individuals
reach
GVRC Blog
the
practitioners,
positioned
to
create
meaningful change. Led by Allison Bond, the GVRC Blog translates peer-reviewed research and expert insights into clear, engaging content that connects data with real-world impact. Each post is designed
to
inform
readers,
encourage
dialogue, and advance evidence-based action. Explore
the
insights
into
latest gun
posts
for
accessible
violence
prevention
research, emerging solutions, and the stories behind the science.
Read All of GVRC Blog Posts Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC Resources The GVRC developed these evidence-based resources to help healthcare providers and community members better understand, discuss, and respond to firearm violence. They offer practical guidance for firearm safety conversations and meaningful ways to learn,
Read All of GVRC Resource Posts Here
reflect, and engage following incidents of firearm violence.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC Grant Awardee Spotlight The New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center is proud to highlight a subset of the 2026 recipients of our grant awards. Over six weeks, we featured one awardee each week to showcase their research aimed at advancing firearm violence prevention research and strengthening evidence-based solutions across New Jersey and beyond. The GVRC supported this diverse group of scholars and practitioners working to address this critical public health issue.
View the Awardee Spotlight Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“Why Experts Fear the Drop in N.J. Gun Violence Could Reverse This Summer...” Read the Full Article Here
“Navigating Firearm Safety Discussions in Clinical Settings...” Read the Full Article Here
“He Grew Up In a Neighborhood of Violence An N.J. Man’s Struggle to Breathe...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“Increase in Suicides Follows Rising Homicide Rates Throughout the US...” Read the Full Article Here
“Rising Homicide Rates Predict Future Suicide Risk in U.S. Counties” Read the Full Article Here
“Delawareans Voice Solutions to Community Violence at DSU Summit.” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“RGVRC Member Highlight: Michael Anestis...” Read the Full Article Here
“Why the Collapse of Firearm Violence Prevention Is a Threat to U.S. Lives...” Read the Full Article Here
“Researchers Track Characteristics of Firearm Owners Receiving Mental Health Treatment...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“Study reveals racial disparities in victim compensation claims for families of Black homicide victims, with high denial rates...” Read the Full Article Here
“Most At-Risk Gun Owners Aren’t in Mental Health Care...”
Read the Full Article Here
“Researchers Track Characteristics of Firearm Owners Receiving Mental Health Treatment...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“Researchers Link Firearm Dealer Openings to Increases in Local Shootings...” Read the Full Article Here
“Racial Disparities Persist in Victim Compensation for Homicide Survivors...” Read the Full Article Here
“How Social Support Impacts Firearm Carrying and Secure Storage...”
Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center Is Funding Over $1.1 Million in Firearm Violence Prevention Grants...” Read the Full Article Here
“Researchers Pitch Strategies to Identify Potential Fraudulent Participants in Online Qualitative Research...” Read the Full Article Here
“What Researchers Learned About American Gun Violence in 2025...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“After Trump’s Cuts, Who’s Going to Fund Gun Violence Prevention?” Read the Full Article Here
"Physical Health Challenges, Healthcare Needs, and Barriers to Care among Firearm Injury Survivors." Read the Full Article Here
“Even If You’ve Never Been Shot, Gun Violence May Still Be Hurting You...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
"As Firearm Suicides Rise, Rutgers Fellows Work on Prevention...” Read the Full Article Here
“What are switches? What to know about the device likely used in South Philly...” Read the Full Article Here
“Rutgers study Debunks Argument that Guns Make People Safer...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“How Gun Violence News Coverage Is Harming America's Mental Health...” Read the Full Article Here
"Study: Gun Suicide Trends After Buying Surge...” Read the Full Article Here
“Even If You’ve Never Been Shot, Gun Violence May Still Be Hurting You...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“Gun Violence with Dr. Mike Anestis AMERICA'S FIREARMS Documentary Short Film...” Read the Full Article Here
“Firearms Rarely Used For Protection Against Crime...” Read the Full Article Here
"Owning a Gun Might Not Keep You As Safe As You Think...” Read the Full Article Here
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
GVRC In The News
“Ozempic Linked To Lower Risk Of Violence In New Study...” Read the Full Article Here
“Can Weight Loss Jabs Reduce Behaviours Linked to Violent Crime?“ Read the Full Article Here
“Elevated Firearm Risk and Mental Health Challenges Among Rural Youth...” Read the Full Article Here
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GVRC DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT & WEBSITE PERFORMANCE The GVRC used social media to share research findings, promote events and resources, highlight researchers, and engage audiences in gun violence prevention. Platform analytics helped measure reach and engagement while informing strategies to make evidence-based research more accessible.
PRESENTED BY Francois Mercer
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
SOCIAL MEDIA During this fiscal period, the GVRC published 25 posts across its social media platforms, generating 3,256 impressions and 1,500 engagements. Content received 170 link clicks, 157 reactions, 225 shares, and an overall reported engagement rate of 46.07%. Research related to Project Safe Guard and firearm suicide prevention generated the strongest audience response, demonstrating interest in timely, practical, and evidence-based prevention research. Social media supported this digital outreach by promoting research publications, prevention resources, training opportunities, and Center updates.
SNAPSHOT 25
POSTS
225 SHARES
3,256
IMPRESSIONS
1,500
46.1%
ENGAGEMENTS
ENGAGEMENT RATE
157
2,372
170
LINK CLICKS
REACTIONS
FOLLOWERS
Source: GVEC. social media analytics.
Research dissemination: New research paper announcements and summaries translated firearm-violence research into accessible social content. Blogs and educational content: Posts promoted GVRC blog articles, including content connected to training, researchers, events, and conferences. Training and fellowships: Social media supported recruitment for the Firearm Suicide Prevention Fellowship, including an extended application deadline. View the Instagram post Researcher visibility: Posts introduced postdoctoral researchers and helped audiences learn about their backgrounds and research interests. View the postdoctoral introduction Video storytelling: GVRC shared videos addressing secure firearm storage and other evidence-based prevention strategies. View the Project Safe Guard video Recognition and achievements: Posts highlighted faculty honors, including Mike Anestis’s Rutgers Board of Trustees Award for Excellence in Research. View the recognition post Cross-platform outreach: GVRC maintained a presence across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky, extending research to academic, professional, and public audiences.
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#NJGVRC THE NEW JERSEY GUN VIOLENCE RESEARCH CENTER | ANNUAL REPORT 2026
WEBSITE ANALYTICS The GVRC website recorded 36,597 page views from 16,390 users across more than 21,504 sessions. The homepage remained the primary entry point, while strong interest in the NJ Firearm Storage Map, FY26 Request for Proposals, Firearm Suicide Prevention Fellowship Training, and GVRC team pages demonstrated engagement with the Center’s resources, funding opportunities, training programs, and researchers.
Available audience data show that women accounted for 59.1% of identifiable users, with adults ages 18–24 representing the largest age group. Most recorded website activity originated in the United States.
* With a recorded 36,597 page views from 16,390 unique visitors across 21,504 sessions. This represents approximately 2.2 page views per visitor and 1.7 page views per session.
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