Dru Stevenson, Professor of Law

Webinar Attendance: June 2, 2026 Today I attended the live webinar " Place Matters: How Neighborhoods Shape Patterns of Gun Violence ," hosted by the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government . Core Tracking Data Event Source: Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium (Rockefeller Institute of Government) Panelists: Bryce Hruska (Syracuse University), Margaret Formica, and Jaclyn Schildkraut Focus Area: How the built environment and local infrastructure changes—specifically the ongoing I-81 Viaduct Project in Syracuse, New York—intersect with gun violence risks and prevention strategies. Participation: I participated in the live session, where the panelists addressed two policy and infrastructure questions I submitted during the Q&A. I asked how this research overlapped or differed from Jens Ludwig's "Unforgiving Places" model, which was focused on Chicago, not Syracuse. The panelists were unfamiliar with this...

On April 20, 2026, I participated in a virtual session hosted by Texas Gun Sense featuring Dr. Brian H. Williams , a trauma surgeon and former health policy advisor to Senator Chris Murphy. The discussion centered on the clinical realities of firearm trauma and the administrative hurdles to effective policy. Here is a screenshot of what I shared on LinkedIn while I was watching it: Professor Dru Stevenson was participating in the Texas Gun Sense webinar with Dr. Brian H. Williams. Two specific areas of the discussion warrant particular attention for researchers and policy analysts, and I now turn to these topics. 1. The Disparity in Pediatric Mortality Milestones A significant portion of the presentation addressed the recent shift in national statistics. While it is widely reported that 2020 was the year firearms became the leading cause of death for all American children and adolescents, Dr. Williams highlighted a deeper chronological disparity. For Black children and teens , firearm...