Public Safety Legislation

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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.