Rockefeller Institute of Government

08/04/2026

Get to know Amanda Nickerson, director of the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention at the University at Buffalo, in our latest RGVRC member highlight. Her research focuses on gun violence prevention in schools. She takes a systems-oriented approach to this work & places an emphasis on translating research → practice.

Read the highlight: https://rockinst.org/blog/rgvrc-member-highlight-amanda-nickerson/

07/28/2026

In the last decade, one of the most significant transformations in American gun policy has been the widespread adoption of permitless carry laws. Since 2013, 29 states have passed permitless carry laws, which allow gun owners to carry a concealed handgun in public without first obtaining a license or undergoing a background check. In our latest blog, Affiliate Scholar Susan Parker highlights findings from her recently published study examining the effects.

Read the blog:

A new study by RGVRC affiliate scholar, Susan Parker, finds that permitless carry laws are linked to higher firearm violence and reduced police enforcement of weapons laws.

07/15/2026

"I hope people who engage with my work take away a sense of the deep challenges that Black men who survive a gunshot wound face when seeking to heal from their injuries and the need for our modes of caring to rise to these challenges."

Meet William Wical in the latest member highlight from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium:

Meet William Wical, an RGVRC affiliate scholar researching how Black male gunshot survivors experience healing, trauma, and care to inform more effective violence prevention efforts.

07/07/2026

On our latest episode of Policy Outsider, we showcase a project that is an antidote to our polarized world. Bridging the Divide on Firearm Policy is a coalition of stakeholders who represent many perspectives on fi****ms in America—gun owners, gun rights and Second Amendment activists, advocates for gun regulations, firearm dealers, firearm instructors, legislators; the list goes on.

The goal of this coalition? To create a sustainable, broadly supported policy roadmap that improves gun violence prevention while protecting constitutional rights.

Guest host Jaclyn Schildkraut interviews Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium scholars Michael Siegel, the group's facilitator, and David Yamane, a member of the coalition.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or on our website:

On this episode of Policy Outsider, scholars with the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium showcase the work of Bridging the Divide on Firearm Policy, a coalition of stakeholders across the firearm rights and regulation spectrum working to create a sustainable broadly supported policy roadmap t...

06/22/2026

While mass shootings occur more frequently in the United States, they are not a uniquely American phenomenon.

Today, we're sharing a new resource from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium (RGVRC): the Global Mass Shooting Factsheet. This factsheet is designed to share high-level details on public mass shootings across the globe and further contextualize the occurrence of these events in the United States.

Read the blog introducing the factsheet: https://rockinst.org/blog/introducing-the-global-mass-shooting-factsheet/

View the Global Mass Shooting Factsheet: https://rockinst.org/gun-violence/global-mass-shooting-factsheet/

A high-level overview of public mass shootings across the globe from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium.

06/18/2026

The US Supreme Court issued an opinion in US v. Hemani this morning. On a new episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute resident cannabis policy expert Heather Trela explains the ruling and what questions remain unanswered for drug-using firearm owners.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts or on our website:

Rockefeller Institute resident cannabis policy expert Heather Trela explains how the US Supreme Court ruled in US v. Hemani and what questions remain unanswered for drug-using firearm owners.

06/15/2026

"My research focuses on Black men who survive firearm violence, specifically those living with firearm-acquired physical disabilities... Survival is not the finish line. It is, in many ways, where the hardest part begins. I want people to understand that a firearm-acquired disability doesn’t arrive alone. It comes with lost wages, fractured relationships, a questioning of Black manhood and masculinities, and a system that was never designed to support Black men in healing."
— Nazsa Baker, a member of our Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium

Read our latest RGVRC Member Highlight:

Meet Nazsa Baker, whose research explores the long-term impact of firearm violence on Black male survivors and challenges how systems support healing and recovery after gun violence.

06/10/2026

Our latest blog provides an update on state legislative action to place moratoriums on data centers.

As data center expansion accelerates, states and local communities are increasingly considering moratoriums amid concerns over environmental, energy, and community impacts.

06/04/2026

Today, researchers from the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium published the final report from Phase I of this project to better understand mass shooters' pre-attack behaviors and communications. Consortium researchers built a database of more than 150,000 records across 171 shootings from '99 to '24.

Read it 👇

This report examines 171 mass public shootings in the United States between 1999 and 2024 involving 175 perpetrators with identifiable pre-attack warning behaviors and communications.

06/01/2026

States ramped up their efforts to address PFAS contamination in biosolids in 2025: liability protection legislation, study/research legislation, bans and moratoriums, disclosure requirements, and more.

As federal action stalls, states are accelerating efforts to regulate PFAS-contaminated biosolids through testing, restrictions, and bans.