• Announcing the Electric Resilience Toolkit

    A new Electric Resilience Toolkit aims to support policymakers and stakeholders working on issues around electric sector regulation and climate resilience planning. Such planning is essential to ensure electricity infrastructure is designed and operated in a way that accounts for the impacts of climate change—impacts that are already being felt and which will only intensify in coming years.

  • Will Closing the “Boyfriend Loophole” in Gun Legislation Save lives? Here’s What the Research Says

    If you have two domestic abusers who have both committed the same severe physical violence against their partners, but one of them is married to their intimate partner while the other isn’t, then only the domestic abuser who is married could be prohibited from having a gun. Among the provisions of the bipartisan gun safety bill passed by Congress, is one which closes the so-called “boyfriend loophole” which allows some people with a record of domestic violence to still buy firearms.

  • Public Safety Experts Warn: NYC’s Crime-Fighting Strategy Could Backfire

    As city leaders double down on policing amid a spike in shootings, a new idea is gaining hold among experts: could less policing actually reduce gun violence?

  • Supreme Court Sweeps Aside New York’s Limits on Carrying a Gun, Raising Second Amendment Rights to New Heights

    The core argument of the 23 June Supreme Court decision in a case involving New York State law is that gun rights are to be treated the same as other hallowed rights like the freedom of speech or freedom of religion recognized in the First Amendment. For most of the history of the court, Second Amendment rights have been seen as distinct, more dangerous, and thus more open to regulation. The majority of justices have now changed that approach to the Second Amendment.

  • What Makes Guns Automatic?

    As was the case following other mass shootings, the killing of 19 children and two adults at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas was followed by calls for various gun-safety measures at the federal and state level. What do these restrictions mean, and how effective would they be if passed?

  • Is There Anything to Learn about Watergate? New History Says Yes

    Historian Garrett Graff argues “America misremembers Watergate as an event, the break-in of the DNC offices, when history has shown us that Watergate was more of a mindset. It was this dark, paranoid, conspiratorial, corrupt mindset that enabled a whole series of crimes and abuses of power that permeated the entire Nixon White House from the campaign of ’68 right through his resignation in ’74. It encompasses a dozen distinct but interrelated scandals with overlapping players, differing motives, differing targets that led the Nixon administration deeper into this morass of scandal.”

  • Man Pleads Guilty to Threatening Election Official

    A Nebraska man pleaded guilty on Thursday to making multiple threatening posts on an Instagram page associated with an election official. The case is part of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, announced in June 2021, to lead the department’s efforts to address threats of violence against election workers.

  • What Can the ATF Do About Converted Machine Guns?

    Auto sears have become increasingly popular among criminals, and have been tied to dozens of shootings by extremists, mass shooters, and drug traffickers. Lawmakers are clamoring for action on auto sears, and history leaves clues about what approach the ATF might take.

  • Top DOJ Official: Easy Access to Powerful Gus Linked to Domestic Terror Attacks

    “We have to be clear about this as a nation,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen told an audience on Wednesday, “[t]he ability of violent extremists to acquire military-grade weapons in this country contributes significantly to their ability to kill and inflict harm on a massive scale.”

  • Did the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 Bring Down Mass Shootings? Here’s What the Data Tells Us

    A spate of high-profile mass shootings in the U.S. has sparked calls for Congress to look at imposing a ban on assault weapons. Such a prohibition has been in place before – from 1994 to 2004. That ban was limited, but nonetheless, the 10-year life span of that ban – with a clear beginning and end date – gives researchers the opportunity to compare what happened with mass shooting deaths before, during and after the prohibition was in place.

  • Some Light in the Distance for Major Curbs on Gun Violence

    The killing of nineteen children and two teachers in in Texas and subsequent debate about what can be done to prevent similar tragedies from happening again, highlighted the widespread recognition about how difficult it will be to spark change in the polarized debate on the issue. Chan’s School’s David Hemenway is uncertain about effects of Uvalde deaths, but believes growing body of research will turn tide in time.

  • Shifting Policing Responsibilities from City to County Doesn't Affect Crime Levels

    Disbanding city police departments and shifting law enforcement responsibilities to county governments appears to have no affect on overall crime rates and leads to fewer police-related deaths, according to a new study. The study also finds disbanding leads to fewer police-related deaths, but less transparency.

  • Norway and Finland Have Levels of Gun Ownership Similar to the U.S., but Far Less Gun Crime

    The number of children killed by guns is 36.5 times higher in the U.S. compared to many other high-income countries. But in terms of the level of gun crimes more broadly – measured by examining the relationship between gun-ownership rates and gun violence — the U.S. is ranked 20th in the world, although all the countries ahead of it are much poorer and more conflicted. European societies similar to the U.S. in terms of gun owners per 100,000 people (but with hunting rifles and shotguns rather than handguns), such as Finland and Norway, are among the safest societies in Europe. Gun researchers now focus increasingly upon wider “gun control regimes” which have a big part to play in increasing or reducing levels of gun violence.  

  • After Mass Shootings Like Uvalde, National Gun Control Fails – but States Often Loosen Gun Laws

    Contrary to the view that nothing changes, state legislatures consider 15% more firearm bills the year after a mass shooting. Deadlier shootings – which receive more media attention – have larger effects. As impressive as this 15% increase in gun bills may sound, gun legislation can reduce gun violence only if it becomes law. And when it comes to enacting these bills into law, our research found that mass shootings do not regularly cause lawmakers to tighten gun restrictions. In fact, we found the opposite. Republican state legislatures pass significantly more gun laws that loosen restrictions on firearms after mass shootings.

  • Why 18-Year-Olds in Texas Can Buy AR-15s but Not Handguns

    The massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday.