Gun Violence Prevention
Gun violence is a public health crisis that continues to devastate individuals, families, and communities. ASPPH made a renewed commitment to work to end it by establishing a Task Force and creating a framework to guide academic public health institutions to inform their actions related to gun violence prevention.
Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and Framework
The ASPPH Gun Violence Prevention (GVP) Task Force includes expert representatives from our member schools and programs of public health. The Task Force reviewed existing literature, identified needs and gaps, and developed recommendations for strategies informed by evidence that can be used by our more than 150 members and other schools and programs of public health to enhance our impact across the broader stakeholder community.
Four domains are addressed in the Task Force’s Gun Violence Prevention: An Academic Public Health Framework: education and training; research; policy and advocacy; and practice. Three cross-cutting themes were also identified in the context of each domain:
- emphasizing a public health perspective in the national conversation,
- elevating strategies that are rooted in empirical evidence, and
- investing in the next generation of public health professionals for long-term change.
ASPPH 2024 Annual Meeting Session on the Role of Academia in Gun Violence Prevention
White House OGVP Deputy Directors Greg Jackson and Rob Wilcox with ASPPH’s Director of Advocacy, Beeta Rasouli
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) Receives ASPPH Special Recognition Award from ASPPH Chief External Relations and Advocacy Officer Tim Leshan and member Yale SPH
Recommendations At A Glance
View additional recommendations for ASPPH. ASPPH recognizes that there is a diversity of capacity and priorities in schools and programs, and each institution will need to continue to assess its readiness and ability to act on specific recommendations.
A Message from the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chair
Gun Violence Prevention: An Academic Public Health Framework – Hear remarks from Sandro Galea, Dean of the Boston University School of Public Health and ASPPH Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chair, on the impact of gun violence across communities, the role of academic public health, and the opportunity to take action.
ASPPH Actions
In response to public outcry for legislative action around recent mass shootings across the nation, ASPPH issued a statement on its commitment to end gun violence. In addition to launching the GVP Task Force, ASPPH urged its members to express support for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first significant gun safety legislation to advance in nearly 30 years. ASPPH also led several advocacy efforts urging congressional action on gun violence through collaborations with like-minded organizations.
Statements
ASPPH Statement on the Release of Gun Violence Prevention: An Academic Public Health Framework
(January 2023)
ASPPH Statement on the Colorado Springs Shooting
(November 2022)
ASPPH Statement on Recent Mass Shootings
(May 2022)
Advocacy
ASPPH Honors Senator Chris Murphy with a Special Recognition Award
(February 2023)
FASHP Letter to Congress
(June 2022)
ASPPH’s Letter to Congress
(June 2022)
Academic Public Health Resources Hub (The Hub)
MEMBERS ONLY
The Academic Public Health Resources Hub (the Hub) is an online repository where ASPPH members can post
and share resources for mutual benefit.
Latest Gun Violence Prevention News
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Beeta Rasouli drives advocacy initiatives for ASPPH. She promotes federal policies that support the academic public health community. Beeta also serves as a congressional liaison for ASPPH and its members.
Beeta Rasouli, MPH
Director of Advocacy and Federal Affairs
Tim Leshan leads public relations and advocacy for ASPPH. This includes both internal and external communications, advocacy for academic public health, as well as global affairs and fundraising.
Tim Leshan, MPA
Chief External Relations and Advocacy Officer