Our Work
| A Stakeholder and Data-Engaged Approach to Improving Uptake of Extreme Risk Protection Orders Among Law Enforcement in Colorado | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Knoepke |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this study is to better understand and operationalize law enforcement officers training for Extreme risk protection orders. |
| Funding Agency | Fund for a Safer Future |
| Developing Artificial Intelligence Methods to Identify Firearm and Substance Use Suicide Risk Factors in the VHA EMR | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this study is to use natural language processing and machine learning methods to identify important suicide risk factors located in free-text EMR entries. |
| Funding Agency | VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention |
| Development & Testing of a Veteran-Centered Lethal Means Safety Suicide Prevention Intervention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to develop and test a lethal means safety intervention in VHA ED settings. |
| Funding Agency | VA Health Services Research & Development |
| Office of Gun Violence Prevention Resource Bank Implementation | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Kelly |
| Description / Aims | This project supports the Colorado Office of Gun Violence Prevention in fulfilling the expectations laid out in Colorado House Bill 21-1299, including the development and maintenance of a resource bank as a repository for data, research, and statistical information regarding firearm injuries and deaths, and their prevention, in Colorado. |
| Funding Agency | Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment |
| Project Safe Guard: Evaluation of Training | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Kelly |
| Description / Aims | This project aims to evaluate the training of National Guard key personnel for delivery of Project Safe Guard to Guardsmen. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense/Henry M. Jackson Foundation |
| Protective Environments: Military Community Engagement to Prevent Firearm-Related Violence | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to adapt the Project Safe Guard intervention for universal delivery and testing at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, CO. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense/Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium |
| Protective Environments: Military Community Engagement to Prevent Firearm Suicide | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz |
| Description / Aims | This study aims explore firearm locking device use and preferences among firearm-owning adults and military spouse and family perspectives on firearm storage in the home and lethal means safety messaging for service members. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense/Defense Health Agency |
| Safety in Dementia: An Online Caregiver Intervention | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz |
| Description / Aims | This study aims to learn more about the decisions that take place when people begin to think about removing firearms from the home as they age and create resources and other support tools to help families plan for what to do about firearms in the home in the future. |
| Funding Agency | National Institute on Aging |
| SECuRe - Securing the Environment, Connecting to Reduce Risk | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Betz, Stanley |
| Description / Aims | The SECuRe study aims to adapt and pilot the Lock to Live (L2L) firearm and medication storage decision-making tool for use within the Military Health System. |
| Funding Agency | U.S. Department of Defense/ Air Force Research Laboratory |
| Support for Missouri Communities to Examine and Explore Firearm Violence | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Kelly |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this study is to support two Missouri communities to develop tailored data collection methods and tools used to facilitate community conversations to understand how local community members perceive firearm injury and violence and identify ways in which the communities may collectively prevent firearm injury and death in the future. |
| Funding Agency | Missouri Foundation for Health |
| Understanding Reasons for Recent Firearm Purchasing Among Black Americans | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Simonetti |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this pilot study is to explore perspectives on firearm purchasing and ownership among Black Americans who recently acquired a firearm. |
| Funding Agency | University of Pennsylvania INSPIRE Center |
| VetStore: Secure Firearm Storage for Veterans When They Need It, Where They Want It, In Places They Trust | |
| Initiative Investigator(s) | Kelly |
| Description / Aims | The aim of this project is to develop, test, and scale-up the VetStore program, which educates and connects Veterans and their families to secure firearm storage devices. |
| Funding Agency | Mission Daybreak Grand Challenge, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs |
April 2023
Simonetti J, Wright-Kelly E, Maksimuk T, & Betz ME. (2023). Firearm Access, Storage Practices, and Suicidal Ideation Among California Veterans in 2021. [Fact Sheet]. UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.
McCarthy V, Wright-Kelly E, Steinhart B, Haasz M, Ma M, Brooks-Russell A. Assessment of Reported Time to Access a Loaded Gun Among Colorado Adolescents. JAMA Pediatr. Published online March 27, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.0080
March 2023
Anestis MD, Moceri-Brooks J, Johnson RL, et al. Assessment of Firearm Storage Practices in the US, 2022. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(3):e231447. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1447
Barnard LM, Johnson RL, Brandspigel S, et al. Practices, knowledge, and concerns for out-of-home firearm storage among those with access to firearms: results from a survey in two states. Injury Epidemiology 2023;10(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s40621-023-00426-9
February 2023
Betz ME, Barnard LM, Knoepke CE, et al. Creation of online maps for voluntary out-of-home firearm storage: Experiences and opportunities. Preventive Medicine Reports 2023;32:102167. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2023.102167
Betz ME, Stanley IH, Buck-Atkinson J, et al. Firearm Owners' Preferences for Locking Devices: Results of a National Survey. Ann Intern Med. 2023 Feb 7. doi: 10.7326/M22-3113. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36745884. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36745884/
January 2023
McCarthy V, Portz J, Fischer SM, et al. A Web-Based Decision Aid for Caregivers of Persons With Dementia With Firearm Access (Safe at Home Study): Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc2023;12:e43702. doi: https://doi.org/10.2196/43702 [published Online First: 31.1.2023]
Sigel EJ, Arredondo Mattson S, Runyan CW. Utilizing the Electronic Medical Record to Enhance Health Care Provider Delivery of Messages About the Safe Storage of Firearms. Clinical Pediatrics;0(0):00099228221146998. doi: 10.1177/00099228221146998
December 2022
Prater LC, Simonetti JA, Knoepke CE, et al. Older adults and planning for firearm safety: A qualitative study of healthcare providers. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society;n/a(n/a) doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18188
Betz ME, Stanley IH, Anestis MD, et al. Firearm Suicide Prevention in the U.S. Military: Recommendations From a National Summit. Military Medicine2022 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usac371
Barnard LM, Johnson RL, Brandspigel S, et al. Voluntary, temporary out-of-home firearm storage: A survey of firearm retailers and ranges in two states. Preventive Medicine 2022;165:107220. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107220
Zeoli AM, Frattaroli S, Barnard L, et al. Extreme risk protection orders in response to threats of multiple victim/mass shooting in six U.S. states: A descriptive study. Preventive Medicine 2022;165:107304. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2022.107304
Barnard LM, Leavitt C, Spark TL, et al. Who discovers the firearm suicide decedent: an epidemiologic
characterization of survivor-victims. Injury Epidemiology2022;9(1):45. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-02200408-3
November 2022
Betz ME, Polzer ER, Knoepke CE, et al. Cars, Guns, Aging, and “Giving Up the Keys”. The Gerontologist2022 doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac142
October 2022
Thomas AC, Siry-Bove BJ, Barnard LM, et al. A Qualitative study on diverse perspectives and identities of firearm owners. Injury Prevention 2022;28(5):434-39. doi: 10.1136/injuryprev-2022-044522
September 2022
Betz ME, Thomas AC, Simonetti JA. Firearms, Suicide, and Approaches for Prevention. JAMA2022;328(12):1179-80. doi: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.16663
August 2022
Simonetti JA, Azrael D, Zhang W, et al. Receipt of clinician-delivered firearm safety counseling among U.S. Veterans: Results from a 2019 national survey. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior 2022;52(6):1121-25. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12906
July 2022
Betz ME, Brandspigel S, Barnard LM, et al. Voluntary, temporary out-of-home firearm storage: a survey of law enforcement agencies in two states. Injury Epidemiology2022;9(1):24. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-022-00389-3
Betz ME, Boggs JM, Goss FR. Predicting Firearm Suicide—Small Steps Forward With Big Data. JAMA Network Open2022;5(7):e2223758-e58. doi: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.23758
Our webinar series highlights collaborative, innovative approaches to firearm injury prevention happening in communities across the country. We hope these sessions can facilitate discussions, spread awareness, and build inter- and multi-disciplinary networks.
Upcoming Webinars
Our webinar series will be back August 2023!
Archived Recordings
May 2023 – “Evidence-Informed Approaches to Preventing School Gun Violence” with Dr. Paul Reeping and Dr. Sonali Rajan
April 2023 – “Participatory Action Research to Inform a Social-Ecological Model of Gun-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Practices with Dr. Krista Mehari and Dr. Phillip Smith from the University of South Alabama.
March 2023 – “Changing the Narrative on Gun Violence Reporting in Philadelphia” with the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting.
February 2023 – "Developing and Implementing a Rural Community Violence Intervention in New Jersey" with Dr. Daniel Semenza from the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center.
January 2023 – “Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement in Longmont, CO” with Kate Origer and Omar Norgaisse from the Crisis Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) Team.
November 2022 – “The Armory Project: A Community-Partnered Approach to Providing Temporary, Out-of-Home Firearm Storage” with Dr. Gala True from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Caleb Morse from Rustic Renegade
October 2022 – “Promoting Voluntary, Temporary Firearm Storage and Development of Firearm Storage Maps” with Dr. Emmy Betz & Leslie Barnard from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Dr. Ali Rowhani Rahbar from the University of Washington
October 2022 – “Firearms, Intimate Partner Violence, and Women's Health” with Dr. April Zeoli from the University of Michigan, Christine Foote-Lucero from UCHealth’s Forensic Nursing Program, and Abigail Hansen with SafeHouse Denver.