The California Firearm Violence Research Center is a research center
at University of California, Davis, founded July 2017.[1]
It was approved for funding by the California state legislature on June 16, 2016.[2] The center operates within the University of California and is the country’s first state-funded firearm violence research center.[3][4]Garen Wintemute and Senator Lois Wolk led the proposal to create the center.[2] With access to California's gun violence data, the center investigates policy efficacy, links between gun violence and alcohol abuse, and more.[2] California's annual death rate related to gun violence has dropped 20% since 2000, despite an unchanged national rate.[3] This center hopes to determine whether other states can replicate this outcome, as research may surface factors that led to the decline.[3] The National Rifle Association of America opposed the inclusion of the center, as they have lobbied for decades against federal and taxpayer money researching gun violence.[5] Several bills have been turned down in Congress due to a lack of data on the impact of gun violence on public health, and the center's founders hope to provide necessary data to advance legislation.[5]
