@mikeanestis.bsky.social
Executive Director of the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center Professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health Author of Guns and Suicide: An American Epidemic Diehard Pittsburgh sports fan
I have a t shirt of that meme!
Show them this and maybe they’ll understand what’s at stake:
youtu.be/6QX57aIDbDU?...
“Ghost guns are not just a law enforcement problem, they are a public health problem... [They] can be acquired without background checks or waiting periods... which makes them particularly consequential for individuals seeking means for self-harm.”
Yup. Lines up with our recent data on shifts in firearm intentions post-election. Fear is driving lots of communities to arm themselves and carry, which in turn is putting them at risk, including from the federal government. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Congress is taking steps to stabilize research dollars, researchers are turning to private funders, and states are emerging as a critical backstop. But is it enough?
www.thetrace.org/2026/02/gun-...
The Trace explains the impact of the federal government denying funds to gun violence prevention science and the various efforts being made to push back.
Jose Lind managed their independent baseball team back in the day!
Congrats!!!
For a new analysis, The Trace catalogued how many grants related to gun violence prevention were canceled or redirected during Trump’s first year in office.
Means safety is by far our most powerful suicide prevention tool and this is a great example.
For decades, there had been an average of 30 suicides at the The Golden Gate Bridge each year. With a new miles-long series of stainless-steel nets now strung on both sides of the bridge, there were none in the second half of 2025.
Another great piece by the Trace. Cathy’s work is so important!
Important work here from the NYT. Ross wasn’t run over. He dropped his cell phone, which he had shifted to his left hand to draw his weapon. And then he shot and killed a person with the gun in his right hand.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/v...
🚨Call your lawmakers by THURSDAY!
Lawmakers are negotiating the final FY26 funding levels for the CDC Injury Center right now! Injuries are the leading cause of death under age 45. Don’t let this key public health infrastructure be destroyed.
www.safestates.org/page/Advocac...
The US government is trying to diversity their methods for killing the residents of this country. I’ve heard from several people about clinics + programs that will immediately shut down, leaving their communities w/o appropriate mental healthcare resources. There’s no rationale for supporting this.
Just beyond disgusting at this point. Violent ignorance causing as much harm as possible.
The federal government is staffed by ghouls.
I’m starting to think the Steelers “let’s just never have an offense” strategy might not be our path to the promised land.
NIH and CDC won’t be issuing RFPs for gun violence research. Glad to see some of the cuts being reversed, but the federal government is still working to silence an entire field of research.
With a cap and floor system where the floor is close to the cap, the deadline would work because teams have to spend their money, so the pressure to make deals is spread across team and player. In the current system, I’d love to watch it but yeah it would definitely give teams all the leverage.
Standing with Minneapolis today. We lived very close to where the tragedy unfolded today and we cherished that diverse welcoming community. These are distressing and shameful times and I’m so tired of seeing the various chapters of our lives touched by hatred and violence.
Camden, NJ had 12 murders in 2025 (welcomed progress from its 17 in '24). Yet, it still had the highest homicide rate per 100k (16.7) out of the top 4 most violent "major-urban" cities in NJ last year. Trenton was close behind (15.4), followed by Paterson (10.0) and Newark (9.8).
"I moved into studying gun violence because firearms account for ~50% of suicide deaths, & suicide accounts for ~60% of gun deaths, & we really can’t talk about preventing suicide w/o talking about preventing GV."
Our latest RGVRC Member Highlight: Allison E. Bond
rockinst.org/blog/rgvrc-m...
Firearm owners at highest risk for suicide—older men, racial minorities—rarely seek mental health care. Outreach, counseling, and lethal means interventions must go beyond traditional mental health settings.
What are some ways you try to reach community members where they’re at?
This year has been a turbulent one for academia as a whole, and gun violence research was no exception. But insights about the crisis continued to emerge. Here are some of the most important things researchers learned in 2025: thetr.ac/LVQta
One of the most effective methods for supporting survivors of mass shootings is recognizing and acknowledging their lived experiences, writes RGVRC Executive Director Jaclyn Schildkraut in a blog that poses the question, "How can I help?"
rockinst.org/blog/how-can...
Philadelphia is creating a housing plan to build and rehab 30,000 homes over the next four years. Officials and residents hope the initiative will alleviate the city’s long-standing problem of housing affordability — and drive down violent crime.
Don’t want to hear about thoughts and prayers. There’s much more that can be done to prevent tragedies like what happened at Brown today.
