Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

About Us

Mission

The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research is dedicated to reducing gun-related injuries and deaths through the application of strong research methods and public health principles. Its faculty have pioneered innovative strategies for reducing gun violence, and achieved a national reputation for high-quality, policy-relevant research.

The Center examines the public health effects of guns in society and serves as an objective resource for policy makers, the media, advocacy groups, and the general public. For the past two decades its faculty has helped shape the public agenda in the search for solutions to gun violence. Graduates of the School’s academic programs hold leadership positions in the field of gun violence prevention worldwide.

History

Investigation into the cause and prevention of gun injuries and fatalities began at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health more than twenty years ago as part of an overall injury prevention research effort. Over the past decade, Center Co-Directors Jon Vernick, JD, MPH, and Daniel Webster, ScD, MPH, have gained national reputations as experts in gun policy and gun violence prevention research. The Center was formally established in 1995. Stephen Teret, JD, MPH, who has more than twenty years experience working to prevent gun violence, was its founding director and remains a faculty member. Center faculty members Shannon Frattaroli, PhD, MPH, and Katherine Vittes, PhD, MPH, are leading researchers studying policies to prevent firearm-related domestic violence.

Past and present funders of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research include: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The David Bohnett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Funders' Collaborative for Gun Violence Prevention, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Overbrook Foundation, and The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.