Global Firearm Collaborative
The Core mission is to advance state of the art research, investigate and develop evidence-based policies, and become a credible global partner for community practice---all with the aim of reducing firearm-related harm and helping to make our communities safe for everyone.
Currently, there are three core sectors of activity within the Collaborative. The structure of the Collaborative allows for other activities/partnerships to emerge and join the Collaborative’s work.
Wound Ballistics Testing
To date, foundational research on the harm from bullets has received limited focus. Preliminary pilot work from the Biomedical Engineering Department of MCW, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Crime Lab of Milwaukee, has demonstrated the ability to apply state-of-the-art video technology to wound ballistics testing, providing a quantitative and visual assessment of how a bullet behaves in gelatin. This quantified energy data of the “damage” caused by firearms and the bullets they carry is critical to our understanding of the magnitude of their potential for injury. It provides an unbiased, scientific perspective on the implications for the clinical care of bullet-injured patients and informs policy discussions for classifying and regulating bullets and firearms.
Additional scientists are being recruited for this ballistics testing that includes colleagues from Cranfield University in Great Britain and in continued partnership with Wesleyan University and their Center for the Study of Guns in Society.
This sector of the MCW Global Firearm Collaborative comprises clinical and policy experts who agree that biomechanical investigations (i.e., wound ballistics testing) are a crucial step in advancing our understanding of firearm-related harm. By studying differences in firearm types and bullet calibers, we can better understand energy transfer and the types of wounds created by varied sizes of bullets and the types of firearms that carry these bullets.
- Cranfield University Defense and Security Research, United Kingdom
- Wesleyan University, Center for the Study of Guns in Society
- Action on Armed Violence, United Kingdom
For more information about the Wound Ballistics Testing work, contact Dr. Stephen Hargarten at hargart@mcw.edu.
Epidemiologic Studies
Additional members of the Collaborative are actively engaged in advancing studies that further our understanding of gun violence in the Americas and the Caribbean. Our recent analysis of child/adolescent deaths in four countries was r accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Medical Association: Youth Firearm Mortality in the Americas from 2015 to 2022.
Our team is a diverse, international group of researchers that seek to better understand firearm-related harm through epidemiologic studies.
In addition to collaboration with other MCW and institutional partners, the Global Firearm Collaborative works with the following individuals, institutions, and organizations:
- Anahuac University, Mexico
- University of Colorado
- University of Vermont
- Massachusetts General Hospital
- University of Michigan
- Brown University
- City College, Graduate School, Brooklyn
- Federal U. of Pelotas, Brazil
- Stop Arms to Mexico
For more information about the Research Network, please contact Dr. Stephen Hargarten at hargart@mcw.edu.
Peace and Values Education in Violence Prevention
Through partnerships created by the MCW Office of Global Health, the CIC has partnered with the Kigali Genocide Memorial (KGM) and Aegis Trust to adapt their Peace and Values Education curriculum for violence prevention efforts in the United States. The Peace and Values Education program is grounded in forgiveness as a path forward to find peace, through developing skills in critical thinking, empathy, and personal responsibility. Given the epidemic of community firearm violence in the United States and the CIC’s existing expertise of community violence intervention (CVI) work, the CIC team will work with KGM Peace Educators to develop a US-Specific Peace and Values Education to further facilitate violence prevention across the state and country. Additionally, the CIC will work with Aegis Trust to help facilitate evaluation of programs.
For more information about the Peace and Values Education work, contact Reggie Moore at rmoore@mcw.edu, Lynn Lewis at vlewis@mcw.edu, or Tristan Gross at tgross@mcw.edu. This work is done in collaboration with MCW's Office of Global Health.