Gun Policy

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When Mass Shooters Are Seeking Fame

What motivates mass shooters? And what might break the cycle of violence? Developing an effective policy response first requires better understanding of the factors that drive would-be attackers to kill.

Pauline Moore, Heather J. Williams @HeatherJWill, et al.

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RAND Turns 75: A Look Through the Decades At World-Changing Research

From anticipating the Space Age in the 1940s to studying gun policy and COVID-19 responses in the 2020s, RAND is celebrating 75 years of research that has made a difference.

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Truth Decay and National Security, Gun Violence, Blockading Crimea: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on Truth Decay and national security, America's gun violence problem, how Ukraine could blockade Crimea, and more.

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A Look Back at the War in Afghanistan, National Security Risks, Hospice Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on why the United States “stayed the unfavorable course” in Afghanistan, the Ohio train derailment, state data on gun deaths, and more.

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Earthquake in Turkey and Syria, Facial Recognition, Gun Violence: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, regulating the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement, improving data collection on gun violence, and more.

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Addressing Gun Violence Requires Better Means of Measuring It

Proposals to reduce firearm violence in the United States are often controversial, sometimes because there are no data demonstrating their effectiveness. The federal government has many of the requisite tools in place to collect the data, and it does it well on a wide range of other problems. Shying away from measuring this problem may also make it more difficult to fix it.

Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart, Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral

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State of the Union 2023: Insights from RAND

In his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden covered a wide range of issues facing the United States at home and abroad, including police violence, gun policy, Russia's war in Ukraine, and U.S. competition with China.

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Avoiding a Long War in Ukraine, Gun Violence, Migrant Surges: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how the United States can help avoid a long war in Ukraine, responding to the gun violence crisis, limits on teachers’ instruction, and more.

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Responding to the Firearm Violence Crisis: Are Some Newly Enacted Laws Making Things Worse?

Persuasive scientific evidence is accumulating for several commonly implemented laws. Where the science is strong, lawmakers would be wise to consider it when making decisions about how to protect public safety while preserving civil liberties, including the right to bear arms.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart

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U.S. Gun Laws, China's COVID Outbreak, Space in 2050: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on gun policy in America, the myth of America's “Ukraine fatigue,” the COVID outbreak in China, and more.

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Historic Research Conference Combats the Rise in Gun Violence

With new funding for gun violence prevention research, projects are beginning to produce findings. To capitalize on the new findings and help integrate the growing field of researchers working on gun violence prevention, RAND partnered with other research programs to organize the 2022 National Research Conference on Firearm Injury Prevention.

Liisa Ecola, Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral

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Microchips, Ukraine, Outer Space: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how safeguarding Taiwan is the answer to America's microchip problem, a moment of clarity in Ukraine, new rules in space, and more.

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Better Data, Less Gun Violence

If the United States is serious about fixing the escalating problem of gun violence, the government needs to measure it. Research that is supported by new funding is overdue but will be hampered until federal and state firearm violence data systems improve.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart

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A New Era for Firearm Violence Prevention Research

Despite many remaining obstacles, the United States may soon have research that clarifies many of the unanswered questions about firearm violence and its prevention. Many critical research questions, neglected for decades, may now benefit from recent federal and private research funding that has supported a surge in research.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart

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Facts Still Matter, Even If the Court Signals Otherwise

The Supreme Court's recent decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen threatens to render decades of scientific studies legally irrelevant. But there is still room for research to inform court decisions about firearm regulations.

Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart, Darrell A. H. Miller, et al.

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State Gun Regulations Are a Messy Patchwork. The Supreme Court's Bruen Decision Won't Help

The Supreme Court's decision may not actually narrow the policy gap between states sharply divided over their approach to regulating guns. Rather, its result may not look very different than what we have today—a patchwork of laws that often reflect political and policy demands of individual states.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart, et al.

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Gun Storage, the Dangers of Replacement Theory, War in Ukraine: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on how Americans store their guns, why ‘replacement theory' is a danger to us all, the war in Ukraine, and more.

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A Toolkit for Avoiding Mass Shootings

RAND has developed an online educational toolkit to provide practical strategies and guidance on deterring, mitigating, and responding to mass attacks. Research highlights three top ways to mitigate and/or respond to mass attacks right now: through proactive prevention, relentless follow-up, and diligent preparation and training.

Richard H. Donohue, John S. Hollywood @JohnS_Hollywood

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Gun Policy, Ukraine's Best Chance for Peace, Equity and Public Policy: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses what the scientific evidence says about gun laws, a potential pathway toward peace in Ukraine, helping incarcerated parents, and more.

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The Gun Laws That Work, and the Gun Laws That Don't

Are certain gun laws and regulations likely to improve or worsen public safety? At a time when many Americans are searching for solutions to the country's intolerably high rates of gun violence, social scientists can help provide answers.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral

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Gun Policy, China and Taiwan, Russian Propaganda: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on reducing America's unacceptably high rates of gun violence, what would happen if China “quarantines” Taiwan, and Russia's “firehose of falsehood.”

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Putin's State of Mind, the Digital Skills Gap, International Women's Day: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on deterring Russian President Vladimir Putin, understanding America’s gun policy debate, improving teacher diversity, and more.

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Exploring the Disagreement Among Gun Policy Experts

A survey asked gun policy researchers, advocates, and congressional staffers who work on gun issues for their views on policies ranging from weapon bans to stand-your-ground laws. Regardless of where they stood, they were not so dissimilar in what they thought gun policies should be trying to accomplish.

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State of the Union 2022: Russia's Invasion of Ukraine and Domestic Policy

In his first State of the Union address, President Joe Biden rebuked Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, aimed to turn a page on the pandemic, and covered a wide range of domestic issues, including mental health care, prescription drug prices, and supporting veterans.

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Addressing Anti-Asian Racism, Stabilizing U.S. Rivalries, the Debt-Ceiling Fight: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on countering anti-Asian racism, the instability of U.S. rivalries with Russia and China, the rise in extremist online activity, and more.

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The Most Popular RAND Research of 2020

Here are the RAND research projects that resonated most in 2020, a year unlike any in living memory. Topics include remote learning, election disinformation, income inequality, and more.

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RAND Commentary Highlights of 2020

The roughly 400 op-eds and blog posts published by RAND researchers during the year reflected an enormous variety of expertise and perspectives, from remote education to election cybersecurity to the economic harms of racial disparities. Here are 10 highlights that landed in high-profile news outlets.

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Health Care Price Transparency, COVID-19 Vaccinations, Gun Laws: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on what private health plans pay compared to what Medicare pays, when COVID-19's global spread really began, laws that could reduce firearm deaths, and more.

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Protests and Police Reform, Facial Recognition, Gun Policies: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on protests and police reform after the killing of George Floyd, facial recognition bans, gun policies that likely reduce deaths, and more.

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COVID-19 Reveals Need for More Research About Guns

Recent reports suggest that Americans reacted to the pandemic by purchasing guns and ammunition in massive numbers. What does this mean for public safety? And how can policymakers ensure that this doesn't result in more injuries or deaths?

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, Jeremy Travis

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New Insights on Gun Policy in America

RAND's Gun Policy in America initiative aims to establish a shared set of facts about gun policies. Recently, researchers completed an update and expansion of their synthesis of all available scientific evidence on the effects of 18 classes of gun laws.

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'Stand Your Ground' Laws May Be Causing More Harm Than Good

Americans have debated whether “stand your ground” laws or gun-free zones make us safer or less safe for decades. These are debates about factual matters that are, in principle, knowable. Without research on these and other topics, bad laws will inadvertently be passed or retained.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral, Rosanna Smart @RosannaSmart

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No Need to Wait for Congress to Address Mass Shootings

After three mass shootings in the span of a week left 53 wounded and 34 dead, pressure is mounting on Congress to respond with legislation to restrict access to guns and ammunition. But there is no need to wait for new laws. There are steps that can be taken immediately that evidence suggests could help prevent attacks or reduce the death toll from them.

John S. Hollywood @JohnS_Hollywood, Jordan R. Reimer

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How U.S. Gun Laws Allow Mass Shooters to Slip Through

The three most lethal domestic terrorist attacks since 9/11 were carried out with high-capacity semiautomatic weapons. None of the attackers were under 21 or were stoppable through criminal background checks. Restrictions on sales of semiautomatics would make it much harder for terrorists to obtain their most effective means of killing.

Benjamin Bahney

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More Research Could Help Prevent Gun Violence in America

Both sides of the gun policy debate agree on what the objectives of any policy should be. But they disagree over which policies would best achieve those goals. Current evidence for or against most gun proposals is weak, contradictory, or nonexistent. Only research can show what does—and doesn't—work.

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How Can the U.S. Do a Better Job of Keeping Kids Safe at School?

Many proposals to improve school safety promote the use of technology, such as metal detectors and video cameras. How effective are these devices? The evidence is mixed.

Rajeev Ramchand @RRamchand, Jessica Saunders, et al.

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How to Bring Facts into the Gun Policy Debate

As debate continues to rage over the causes and prevention of gun violence, it's worth asking how science can help lawmakers and the public resolve longstanding disagreements that have stood in the way of solutions.

Andrew R. Morral @AndrewMorral

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Domestic Warning Signs of Mass Shootings

After shootings, there is inevitably public debate over gun safety, constitutional rights, police tactics, terrorism, race, and politics. But these discussions rarely focus on a common factor among the perpetrators: a history of violence against women.

Radha Iyengar Plumb

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Gun Violence: Where Is the Research That Might Save Lives?

Gun violence is an important public health problem that accounts for more than 33,000 deaths each year in the United States but in 1996, Congress stripped the CDC of funding for any research that could be associated with gun control advocacy. The lack of CDC funding has deterred researchers.

Jeffrey Wasserman

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Firearms and Gun Control: Many Questions, Some Answers

President Obama's task force on gun violence has raised the stakes in the policy debate on gun control and policy in the wake of the recent shootings in Colorado and Connecticut. Some of RAND's top researchers share what is, and what isn't, known about firearms and gun control.

Sarah Michal Greathouse, Brian A. Jackson, et al.