Rutgers University to launch gun violence, prevention study

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The New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research at Rutgers University is launching eight new studies on gun violence and prevention.

The research will be led by faculty members from across Rutgers University and explore correlations between mental health care spending and reductions in crimes committed with guns, according to Rutgers. Researchers will examine the effectiveness of existing laws and policies in preventing gun violence, and look at whether and how school building layouts can help prevent casualties in a shooting.

The New Jersey Center on Gun Violence Research was funded in Fiscal Year 2019 by a $2 million appropriation of state funds through the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, according to Rutgers. It is one of only two state-funded centers in the United States that conducts interdisciplinary research on the causes, consequences and solutions for gun-related violence.

“Our goal is to create new insights into how society can prevent and mitigate the incidence of gun violence,” Paul Boxer, the center’s research core director and a professor of psychology at Rutgers University-Newark, said in a statement. “We selected these projects for their innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, and their promise to promote public health and prevent violence through new theory, practice and policy.”