Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting
@pcgvr.org
Collaborating with journalists, researchers and the survivor community to advance more empathetic, ethical and impactful reporting. PCGVR.org
By curating connections, cultivating trust and conducting collaborative research, PCGVR informs journalistic practices and influences the programs and policies that will ultimately lead to a more nuanced public health-focused approach and fewer people harmed by gun violence. But we need your help:
Support Better Gun Violence Reporting
We inform journalistic practices to prevent harm and illuminate programs and policies that prevent gun violence. But we need your help.
fundrazr.com
“I’m in this work for real change—to support ethical journalism, prevent violence, and create a safer, more well-informed community. We have already begun our next chapter: deepening local impact, expanding national reach, and strengthening our networks in newsrooms and communities...”
Eric Marsh Sr. named director of The Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting, succeeding founder Jim MacMillan – We colaborate with journalists, researchers and the survivor community to advance more empathetic, ethical and impactful reporting.
Eric Marsh Sr. speaks during a panel discussion recently in Philadelphia. He has been named Director of the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting beginning May 1, 2026. Photograph by Kriston…
pcgvr.org
We’ve got a new, more concise and comprehensive research landing page mapping out how the multidisciplinary collaborative led by PCGVR is building the case for better gun violence reporting: pcgvr.org/research
"Countries and entire regions have demonstrated that, when national leadership has chosen to act, success is notable in reducing preventable gun-related homicides and suicides."
A Roadmap to Effective Gun Violence Policy | Think Global Health
Countries like Australia and Colombia show paths to reducing preventable gun-violence homicides and suicides
thinkglobalhealth.org
“Closing a school is like evicting an entire community of social networks...You're taking a place that was so meaningful to a group of people, and now they're no longer able to congregate there and build their lives around it.”
Public school closings in Chicago linked to more gun violence in nearby neighborhoods
Data shows a 10% increase in shootings can be linked to mass public school closures
news.uchicago.edu
“This would create a stabilized department in the long term that isn’t just responding to the whims of today when we’re dealing with sustained issues."
Chicago government leaders, advocates call for creation of a city Department of Gun Violence Reduction
The proposed department would replace the mayor’s Office of Community Safety and coordinate city efforts to respond to gun violence. Proponents say its $100 million budget would be made up of…
wbez.org
“The strongest finding in the study was that the well-established link between impulsivity and violent behavior was substantially weaker among current GLP-1 users compared to former users."
Researchers Link Use of GLP-1 Medications to Lower Risk of Violence
Researchers Link Use of GLP-1 Medications to Lower Risk of Violence
rutgers.edu
The ruling comes weeks after The Trace reported that stores hosting the machines had endured robberies and shootings committed by assailants seeking the cash kept on hand to pay winners.
Amid Concerns Over Violence, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Declares Skill Games Illegal
The decision follows The Trace’s reporting on robberies and fatal shootings at stores that carry cash to pay out winners.
thetrace.org
"Grieve, baby, grieve until you are healed."
A mother's view: No, we'll never "get over it" - Philadelphia Obituary Project
Kimberly Kamara is the author of “Where’s My Daddy,” a children’s book aimed at kids who’ve lost a parent to murder. The book was inspired by her family’s continuing journey of grief after her son,…
phillyobitproject.com
We collaborate with @billy-penn.bsky.social to produce the Weekly brief on gun violence prevention, delivered via their daily newsletter every Wednesday. Here's this week's edition: mailchi.mp/billypenn/we...
From 2016 through 2021, the ATF reported 45,240 suspected ghost guns were recovered by law enforcement from crime scenes, including in 692 homicides or attempted homicides:
What are ghost guns? Here’s everything a health reporter should know
"Ghost guns," firearms made from kits or 3D printers, are becoming more common. Here's what you need to know about their public health risk.
healthjournalism.org
"Instead of targeting the conversion devices, (law) targets the handgun designs that are particularly susceptible to conversion. By doing so, the law seeks to pressure manufacturers to redesign firearms so they cannot be easily modified."
States Take a Different Approach to Getting ‘Switches’ Off the Streets
A new law in Connecticut is part of a growing trend.
thetrace.org
The bill would eliminate CDC funding for gun violence prevention research:
House FY 2027 spending bill underfunds public health putting communities at risk
The House Fiscal Year 2027 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, approved by the House Appropriations Committee today, fails to provide adequate…
apha.org
“This bill completely eliminates gun violence prevention research that is critical to fighting the gun violence epidemic we face as a country."
House Republicans advance bill to defund critical gun violence prevention programs
WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released the following statement on the
giffords.org
"The number of privately made guns recovered in crimes and submitted to federal authorities rose from about 1,600 in 2017 to nearly 27,500 in 2023."
Some people are making guns with 3D printers. A new law seeks to cancel their print jobs
Legislation in two of the nation's most populous states could force 3D printers to come equipped with technology blocking them from making guns.
apnews.com
"Across Pennsylvania, organizations that provide resources for crime victims are scaling back services, cutting positions, and leaving key roles vacant after the federal fund supporting them has received record-low deposits during President Donald Trump’s second administration."
PA crime victim services face cuts after funding declines
Victims’ services are funded via fines and penalties from white-collar crime convictions, which have declined under President Trump
spotlightpa.org
We collaborate with @billy-penn.bsky.social to produce the Weekly brief on gun violence prevention, delivered via their daily newsletter every Wednesday. Here's this week's edition: mailchi.mp/billypenn/we...
The way local television news covers community firearm violence is systematically harmful, inequitable, and disconnected from the public health realities of the crisis. Visit our new and more comprehensive research home page:
PCGVR’s multidisciplinary research team has published six peer-reviewed studies that together tell a clear and urgent story.
FIVE YEARS OF PCGVR RESEARCH
pcgvr.org
Findings highlight consistent patterns in perpetrators’ experiences, behaviors, and communications prior to the attacks.
Sharing Information to Stop Mass Shootings—Final Report | Rockefeller Institute of Government
This report examines 171 mass public shootings in the United States between 1999 and 2024 involving 175 perpetrators with identifiable pre-attack warning behaviors and communications.
rockinst.org
"CVI has already demonstrated its ability to save lives. The question now is whether systems can evolve quickly enough to sustain and build on that progress. Without it, the progress made in reducing violence may prove temporary."
Community Violence Intervention Series: A Framework for Safer Communities | Milken Institute
This article is the first in a four-part series focused on gun violence prevention work within the Milken Institute, detailing significant research points and f
milkeninstitute.org
"The Trump administration, driven both by gun-lobby advocacy and its own political priorities, quickly set about undoing much of its predecessor’s moves to combat gun violence."
“No One Is Watching”: How Trump Reversed Biden’s Crackdown on Gun Trafficking
After Biden clamped down on the flow of illegal guns, Trump has referred fewer ATF trafficking charges for prosecution, eased up on irresponsible gun shops and shifted hundreds of ATF agents to…
propublica.org
The study also finds that parents tend to store their firearms more securely when there are pre-teenaged children in their home than when children are older, despite teenagers being more at risk of death from firearms.
Nearly 7 million kids live in a home where guns aren’t securely stored
A new Northeastern study finds 6.7 million American children live in a home with at least one unlocked, loaded firearm.
news.northeastern.edu
We collaborate with @billy-penn.bsky.social to produce the Weekly brief on gun violence prevention, delivered via their daily newsletter every Wednesday. Here's this week's edition: mailchi.mp/billypenn/we...
“It is beyond disheartening that rather than investing and [studying] what worked and pouring into what worked, we are doing the opposite.”
Trump’s cuts to intervention programs could increase violent crime, experts say
Community programs are more effective at reducing violence than simply making arrests, advocates say
theguardian.com
The researchers found that gun violence at school had clear and lasting reverberations, not just on students’ education in the months following a shooting but also on their career prospects and earnings in the years after it occurred:
The Enduring Cost of Gun Violence at School
Shootings have adverse consequences not just on students’ health and education but on their long-term career prospects as well.
insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu
"A narrow, carefully defined duty to warn, triggered only when an AI system flags a user’s behavior and it is reviewed by humans, would be a meaningful step forward."
Should AIs be required to report a human user contemplating violence?
Human therapists have a legal duty to warn authorities and potential targets when patients say they plan to harm someone. The same can – in theory – be required of AI chatbots .
theconversation.com
"When you are talking about closing 17 schools, you are not talking about just closing schools; you are talking about really closing an entity that is a gun violence prevention center."
Community coalition urges Philadelphia officials to halt planned school closures
A coalition of community leaders, parents and clergy is urging city officials to stop a plan to close 17 schools, warning the move could increase the risk of gun violence and destabilize neighborhoods...
6abc.com
“The research suggests that income inequality rooted in decades of structural racism, redlining, segregation, and economic disinvestment creates the conditions in which these disparities persist and compound.”
Fatal Police Shootings Are More Common in Counties With Greater Income Inequality | The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
According to a new study, areas in the United States with greater income inequality experience a significantly higher rate of fatal police shootings. This pattern is particularly pronounced among…
jbhe.com
"Some people use the word survivor to describe people who were physically injured or in the same room as a shooter, but everyone—including survivors themselves—has wildly different understandings of what it means to “survive” a traumatic event."
The Advice I Hope You’ll Never Need
I survived two school shootings. This is what I learned.
theatlantic.com
