Key Initiative of Historic Anti-Gun Violence Multi-State Agreement Between Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico

Partnership Will Collect and Analyze Data Across Multiple Disciplines on Public Efforts to Reduce Gun Violence to Better Inform Policymakers Nationwide

Fills Void Left by Federal Government’s 1996 Ban on Federally-Funded Gun Violence Research

DOVER, Del. – Governor John Carney, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, and Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló today announced the nation’s first Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, a key initiative of the historic “States for Gun Safety” coalition between Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico.

The consortium brings the thought leaders and top researchers from partner states together to undertake significant new research on all manners of gun violence, data collection and analysis across multiple disciplines. This unprecedented effort will provide the public, including policymakers, with new information to ultimately reduce the scourge of gun violence. This groundbreaking consortium fills the void left by the federal government’s 1996 ban on the use of federal funds to study gun violence, which has obstructed research efforts across the nation, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

“Working together, states can and should directly confront the threat of gun violence. This new consortium will provide new information and research about gun violence to inform policy discussions at the state and federal levels,” said Governor John Carney. “Better information will help us enforce laws already on the books, intercept the flow of illegal weapons across state borders, and take additional action that will make a real difference. Delaware is proud to be a part of this coalition, and I thank my fellow Governors for their leadership on this issue.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo said, “New York is proud to have the nation’s strongest gun safety laws. The federal government’s continued inaction on this issue has not only allowed the epidemic of gun violence to spread, but it has left it to the states to provide the leadership needed to confront this problem head on. The consortium is a major step in our multi-state partnership to research responsible gun safety legislation and take new steps to prevent illegal guns from crossing state lines.”

Governor Phil Murphy said, “Despite having some the toughest gun laws in the nation, New Jersey has suffered from roughly 80 percent of our gun crimes being committed with a gun trafficked across our borders. We’re losing young people across our state to the senseless epidemic of gun violence as Congress sits idly by on this issue. Those of us at the state and local level are taking matters into our hands to curb violence in our communities. That’s why I’m proud to join my fellow governors in creating the nation’s first regional gun violence research consortium.”

Governor Dannel P. Malloy said, “Gun violence is a public health emergency, and it should be treated as such. Connecticut has been a national leader in addressing this epidemic. By working together with like-minded states, we can take strides toward understanding the root causes of violence and determine the most effective prevention strategies. Connecticut has reduced violent crime at a faster rate than any state in the nation since we passed our commonsense gun legislation in 2013. This coalition is a critical step to building upon this progress.”

Governor Gina M. Raimondo said, “While Washington continues to drag its feet, in Rhode Island we’re stepping up and taking decisive action to keep our communities safe. This week I was proud to take part in the first meeting of Rhode Island’s new Gun Safety Working Group, which will help create an action plan for gun reform. The efforts of this new multi-state consortium will further bolster our work with meaningful research to help guide action on reforms across all of our states. I thank my fellow governors for their efforts and look forward to seeing the research developed by the consortium.”

Governor Charlie Baker said, “Massachusetts is pleased to have some of the nation’s strongest gun control laws and looks forward to working with other states to enhance information sharing across state lines to provide state officials and law enforcement with more resources to keep our communities safe.”

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló said, “Puerto Rico is proud to have some of the strongest regulations of permits to possess guns in the United States. At the same time, we are fighting against illegal guns in the Island. I believe this consortium of states to promote shared knowledge will go a long way towards raising awareness about the direct relationship between uncontrolled access to guns and acts of violence. This is an important step towards ending in the senseless massacres that have claimed the lives of innocent people in public institutions and schools.”

The consortium will operate between the multiple states involved, harnessing the collective research and expertise for collaborative activities among individual universities and departments. In addition to new research, the consortium will also create a central clearinghouse of existing data from institutional, federal, and multi-state sources for public use.

This month marks the anniversary ‎of two of our country’s most tragic mass shootings that are etched into the history of our society; it was eleven years ago this week that 32 people lost their lives on the campus of Virginia Tech University, and 19 years ago, 13 people were tragically killed at Columbine High school.

Listed below are the scholars from the states who are leading the consortium. A full link with their biographies is available here.

• Romain L. Alexander Policy Advisor, Office of Governor John Carney
• Eric F. Bronson, Dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Roger Williams University
• Rod K. Brunson, Dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University
• Joel Capellan, Assistant Professor of Law & Justice Studies at Rowan University
• Michaela Dunne, Manager of Law Enforcement & Justice Services at Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS)
• Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy
• Sandro Galea, Dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health
• Anna Harvey, Professor of Politics and Director of the Public Safety Lab at New York University
• David Hemenway, Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
• Christopher Herrmann, Assistant Professor in the Law and Police Science Department at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
• Heather Howard, Lecturer in Public Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
• Margaret K. Formica, Assistant Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University
• Allan Jiao, Professor of Law & Justice Studies at Rowan University
• Craig H. Kennedy, Provost at the University of Connecticut (UCONN)
• David M. Kennedy, Professor of Criminal Justice at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NYC)
• Chris Kervick, Executive Director, State of Delaware Criminal Justice Council
• John M. Klofas, Professor and Director of the Center for Public Safety Initiative at the Rochester Institute of Technology
• Mike Lawlor, Undersecretary for Criminal Justice Policy and Planning, CT Office of Policy & Management and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice in the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven (on leave)
• Alan Lizotte, Distinguished Professor and former Dean at the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany
• Matthew J. Miller, Professor of Health Sciences and Epidemiology at Northeastern University
• Daniel J. O’Connell, Ph.D, Senior Scientist, Center for Drug and Health Studies, University of Delaware
• James Peyser, Massachusetts Secretary of Education
• Jennifer L. Pomeranz, Assistant Professor, College of Global Public Health at New York University
• Jeremy Porter, Professor of Sociology at CUNY Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center
• William Pridemore, Distinguished Professor and Dean of the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany
• Dermot Quinn, Lieutenant Colonel, Massachusetts State Police
• Sonali Rajan, Assistant Professor of Health Education at Teachers College, Columbia University
• Megan L. Ranney, Emergency Physician and Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Rhode Island Hospital/ Alpert Medical School of Brown University
• Jaclyn Schildkraut, Assistant Professor of Public Justice and National Expert on Mass Shootings
• Donald H. Sebastian, Senior Vice-President of Technology & Business Development at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)
• Michael Siegel, Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences at Boston University School of Public Health
• Nick Simmons, Project Coordinator at the Rockefeller Institute of Government
• Robert J. Spitzer, Distinguished Service Professor and Chair of the Political Science Department at SUNY Cortland
• Sean P. Varano, Professor of Criminal Justice at Roger Williams University

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