Firearm violence roundtable: A research agenda in firearms and suicide

In the United States, firearms are involved in nearly 100,000 deaths and injuries each year. In 2004, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued a report in 2004 detailing the strengths and limitations of existing research on the relationship between firearms and violence. In 2005, a multidisciplinary group of experts, the National Collaborative on Firearm Violence, came together to 1) critically review the main findings of the NAS report, and 2) define a research agenda that could fill research and data gaps and inform policy that reduces gun-related crime, deaths, and injuries. The Collaborative's recommendations will be published shortly in Injury Prevention. The Firearm Violence roundtable session, led by members of the Collaborative, will be a springboard for implementing these recommendations and developing collaborations among the public health community for each topic area. Members of the Collaborative will moderate in-depth discussion for the following roundtables: 1) policies to improve data collection, data quality, and data access; 2) ideas for formative research, pilot studies, and overcoming obstacles to research funding; 3) a research agenda on firearms and suicide; 4) partnerships between university-based researchers and community-based professionals in law enforcement and criminal justice; and 5) partnerships between university-based researchers and public health, healthcare, and other community-based service providers. This roundtable will help assure that the recommendations of the Collaborative and all interested individuals are translated into a research and policy agenda that advances the state of knowledge for firearm injury prevention.