Want to fund gun research? Ask for private donations. [Opinion]

During the next five years, a $20 million investment from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation will support research into the causes of and solutions to gun violence in America. The RAND Corp., a non-partisan and widely respected research leader, is coordinating the effort. The foundation expects another $30 million in commitments from fellow philanthropic organizations to help fund this work Working last month in our Houston office on a speech about the importance of criminal justice research, we saw a BREAKING NEWS alert flash across the television. Exactly 40 miles away, a young man wielding a shotgun and a revolver had opened fire in a high school art class, killing eight of his fellow Santa Fe High School students and two teachers. After Parkland, Fla., after Sutherland Springs, after Las Vegas, after mass shootings that are happening with disturbing regularity, too many Americans are growing numb to the pain and anguish that accompanies such outrageous acts of violence. Chicago, where more than 1,000 shootings have occurred so far this year, is all too familiar with the grim statistics that leave concerned citizens asking, “Why?” Why do 30,000 Americans die of gun-related violence each year, a number that translates into 100 gun deaths every day? Why is it that you’re 25 times more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. than in other high-income countries? Why is it that more Americans have been killed in schools in 2018 than have lost their lives in military deployments? The […]

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