Stoneleigh Fellow Daniel Semenza publishes a paper on the impact of federal funding cuts on gun violence prevention and reduction efforts.
A recent paper from the New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center (NJGVRC) claims that federal actions and defunding are threatening measures aimed at reducing firearm-related violence nationwide.
According to the paper, the national homicide rate fell by more than 16 percent in 2024. Daniel Semenza, associate professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice and the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at Rutgers—Camden and director of research at NJGVRC, said that one of the most significant factors behind this decline was that the homicide rate spiked during COVID-19, so it came down as life went back to normal.
Semenza also attributes the drop to new state policies related to gun safety, changes in police practices and community health and violence prevention.
