The resources and reading materials listed below have been compiled by the Gun Violence Initiative and are not meant to be comprehensive.

Library guide

Provided by the Becker Medical Library and the Institute for Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis, this guide will point to resources to raise awareness focusing on the issues surrounding gun violence as a public health issues in our nation.

Safe gun storage video

Firearm injuries are the second leading cause of death in children.  Safe storage is an essential step in ensuring that children are not harmed by bullets, an occurrence that happens all to often in the home. A study done by pediatric surgeons at the two children’s hospitals in St. Louis showed that 40% of pediatric firearm injuries were in fact unintentional injuries.

In an effort to reduce these injuries, this public service announcement video was released on September 10, 2019 in coordination with the Gun Violence Task Force committee hearing and represents an effort to help motivate and educate the public in best practices regarding firearm and ammunition storage in the home. Lead by trauma surgeons Dr. Joseph Sakran and Dr. Laurie Punch, fueled by the art of Ian Wood, a fourth year Washington University in St. Louis medical student, and brought to life through the writing and voice acting of Dr. Marty K. Casey, this  collaboration of professionals represents the power of art and science working together to address a complex public health issue.

Local & regional organizations
National organizations
  • AMA Gun Safety Module | The new module presents three different scenarios to help physicians determine the best approach for handling patient interactions. Available free on AMA Ed Hub™ and qualifies for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
  • Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence | Develops and implements extensive public health and safety programs and utilizes the courts to reduce gun violence.
  • Urban Networks to Increase Thriving Youth (UNITY) | Utilizes a public health, or prevention, approach to violence.
  • Gun Violence Archive | An online archive of gun violence incidents collected from over 1,200 media, government and commercial sources daily in an effort to provide near-real time data about the results of gun violence.
  • Everytown for Gun Safety | Seeks to improve our understanding of the causes of gun violence and the means to reduce it – by conducting groundbreaking original research, developing evidence-based policies, and communicating this knowledge to the American public.
  • The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence | Maintains the most comprehensive information on U.S. firearms regulation anywhere, including in-depth summaries of federal and state firearm laws and nationwide policies.
Volunteering & voting

Journal & print media articles
Further reading
  • The Trace | An online compendium of gun violence related news.
  • Gun Violence Prevention from APHA | Articles, fact sheets, data sources, and other useful information about gun violence from the American Public Health Association.
  • Be SMART Campaign | Handouts, resources, and tools to promote this campaign created to reduce unintentional child shootings.