AUGUST: We got verified on Bluesky. Sammy Caiola & Eric Marsh discussed AGVR.org on iHeart Radio's What’s Going On program. We produced a fundraising video featuring Oronde McClain. We announced that Dr. H. Jean Wright II would keynote our national conference. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

JULY: We published 5 Years of Impact impact.pcgvr.org, launched a new look & new site, had a reception for our key partners & announced our national conference. We shared a new study. Oronde spoke at Our Seat, Our Say. The new AGVR team launched. We went to ONA. PCGVR Year in Review www.pcgvr.org/25

JULY: We published 5 Years of Impact impact.pcgvr.org, launched a new look & new site, had a reception for our key partners & announced our national conference. We shared a new study. Oronde spoke at Our Seat, Our Say. The new AGVR team launched. We went to ONA. PCGVR Year in Review www.pcgvr.org/25

JUNE: Dr. Beard lectures at UPenn. Oronde McClain speaks at Hope Symposium at Temple. AGVR holds panel & brown bag at IRE in New Orleans. Gateway Journalism Review checks in on AGVR. New Pa. state guidelines cite PCGVR. Final Credible Messenger film released. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

MAY: We intro'd new AGVR.org site, expanded team, events & more. The Association of Health Care Journalists spotted PCGVR preserving the scrubbed Surgeon General’s Advisory. We launched a fundraiser to print & distribute more copies of our pcgvr.org/toolkit. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

MAY: We intro'd new AGVR.org site, expanded team, events & more. The Association of Health Care Journalists spotted PCGVR preserving the scrubbed Surgeon General’s Advisory. We launched a fundraiser to print & distribute more copies of our pcgvr.org/toolkit. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

APRIL: Drs. Beard & Kaufman updated their Inquirer op-ed on federal threats to research for The Guardian and discussed the crisis on WHYY. Eric Marsh & Oronde McClain discussed our work on PhillyCAM radio's Block by Block. We launched a new Media Mentions page. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

APRIL: Drs. Beard & Kaufman updated their Inquirer op-ed on federal threats to research for The Guardian and discussed the crisis on WHYY. Eric Marsh & Oronde McClain discussed our work on PhillyCAM radio's Block by Block. We launched a new Media Mentions page. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

MARCH: Jim MacMillan joins trauma journalism panel at 9/11 Museum. Dr. Beard and colleague Dr. Elinore Kaufman write Inquirer op-ed on federal threats to research. Oronde McClain visits UPenn's Amplify Nursing podcast. Oronde & Jim Zoom into class at Missouri. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

MARCH: Jim MacMillan joins trauma journalism panel at 9/11 Museum. Dr. Beard and colleague Dr. Elinore Kaufman write Inquirer op-ed on federal threats to research. Oronde McClain visits UPenn's Amplify Nursing podcast. Oronde & Jim Zoom into class at Missouri. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

We collaborate with @billy-penn.bsky.social to produce the Weekly Brief on gun violence prevention, delivered via their daily newsletter every Wednesday. Here's this week's edition: mailchi.mp/billypenn/we...

FEBRUARY: We launched SurvivorConnection.org .. The TheSecondTrauma.net team had screenings at NYU and PCOM... Oronde McClain visited Washington & Lee University... Dr. Jessica Bread discussed our latest research with iHeart Media... We held our first retreat. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

JANUARY: Hundreds attended our webinar with the CDC... We had another with Philadelphia Journalism Collaborative... We went to Brooklyn for the Common Justice Narrative Convening... Eric Marsh, Sr., joined the team and we launched an ambitious new strategy. PCGVR Year in Review: www.pcgvr.org/25

"In Toronto, the country’s biggest city, 88 percent of all firearms recovered from crimes in 2024 were smuggled across the border, up from 51 percent in 2014... Across Canada, the homicide rate increased 33 percent from 2013 to 2023, largely because of firearm killings, which jumped 89 percent."

They called for a “research revolution.” They also said the national narrative on gun violence needs to change to garner broad support for solutions that bring people together rather than polarize them.

This morning's newsletter from the Association of Gun Violence Reporters includes an impressive recap of activities since officially launching less than six months ago. You can subscribe for free: mailchi.mp/272705a1bb53...

Covering hard stories, together.

"In a continued push to reduce violence and support community healing, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) and chair, Lt. Governor Austin Davis, recently awarded $73 million in state and federal funding." Press release:

While schools and nonprofit organizations offer support groups and art therapy, teens and those who serve them say children need more encouragement to find safe spaces to share their feelings.

Our 2025 activities culminated with our national conference: Nearly 120 journalists, researchers, prevention professionals and experts from the survivor community gathered in Philadelphia for: What Now? Gun Violence Reporting in Unprecedented Times. More than half earned PCGVR Certification.

"The gun industry never misses an opportunity to market its increasingly lethal products to the American public. While most of America sees Christmas as a time of peace and goodwill, to the firearms industry it’s just another day to try and sell some guns." Slideshow:

“Guns aren’t going away unless we get to the root of people’s fears."

Seek out the expertise of people beyond the police, such as impacted family members, activists, public health experts, and longtime community members. Making connections with community members at the scene can be a first step to building trusting relationships to inform accurate follow-up stories.

Just got our first product back and it looks pretty great. Get yourself something. And help us at the same time. Or let us know if there is something else we should make and put online. Hats? bags? Notebooks? www.pcgvr.org/shop

AGVR helps reporters tell more nuanced, solutions-forward stories about gun violence in hopes of minimizing harm to survivors while advancing public health-informed, trauma-aware and community-centered journalism.

"Here to support every parent, child, and teen as they try to process gun violence as a family, especially when school, gatherings, and community events begin to feel like scary places."

Our 2025 activities culminated with our national conference: Nearly 120 journalists, researchers, prevention professionals and experts from the survivor community gathered in Philadelphia for: What Now? Gun Violence Reporting in Unprecedented Times. More than half earned PCGVR Certification.

"Most of these technologies are untested, and their effect on safety is unproven. Even gunshot detection systems have not been studied in the context of school and mass shootings outside of simulation studies. School shooting research has very little to offer..."

"This is how she copes. She pours her grief into efforts to help prevent the same tragedy from happening to other families. But getting to this point, a place of strength, where she’s launched initiatives to reduce gun violence and founded an organization to help kids, has been a journey."

"Many looked to cope as they always have, by rising at dawn, donning swimsuits, grabbing surfboards and making their way to the beach."

The federal government hasn’t made it easier to prevent shootings. Cities and states are picking up the slack.

The Pew Charitable Trusts analyzed publicly available data to provide a clearer understanding of the criminal homicide trends in Philadelphia and how they compare with other cities across the nation.

Welcome to PCGVR, the place where ethical, empathetic, and impactful gun violence reporting begins.

Philadelphia journalists are invited to access this directory of local community experts who feel willing and prepared to share their stories. Each community participant has taken part in our introductory workshop on trauma, media literacy and public health responses to gun violence.

"This year has been a turbulent one for academia as a whole — and gun violence research was no exception."

"This bill reverses a dangerous giveaway to the gun industry by restoring long-standing National Firearms Act taxes on silencers and sawed-off shotguns—safeguards that have been in place since the NFA was enacted in 1934."

Reporting from the scene of a shooting should be carried out with caution and sensitivity, as it can often intentionally or inadvertently sensationalize the event and further stigmatize those impacted.

Just got our first product back and it looks pretty great. Get yourself something. And help us at the same time. Or let us know if there is something else we should make and put online. Hats? bags? Notebooks? www.pcgvr.org/shop

Our 2025 activities culminated with our national conference: Nearly 120 journalists, researchers, prevention professionals and experts from the survivor community gathered in Philadelphia for: What Now? Gun Violence Reporting in Unprecedented Times. More than half earned PCGVR Certification:

"We connect journalists working on gun violence to support, opportunities, and resources."

We are changing America’s gun violence narrative by working with journalists and public health experts, victims and survivors, and the many community and academic groups that are familiar with the root causes of gun violence and its research-backed solutions.

"I don't think there is anyone in the city that doesn't know gun violence... I'm just happy there are still good people out there."

"With Democrats focusing on mass shooting itself as a term, violence, community, family, and legislature, and the Republican tweets associated with topics on law enforcement, crime, and Second Amendment rights."

"The city is suspended in a state of grief and unease, blanketed with snow and an eerie silence. Shops and restaurants are emptier than they should be during the holiday season. Some schools and daycares are still closed... There are whirring helicopters. There is a growing pile of flowers..."

The Weekly Brief: What Now conference: multimedia recap... Monthly city data update: Philly Stat 360... Billy Penn & WHYY: priceless partners with PCGVR... Get yourself something and support our work... Plus all the headlines: mailchi.mp/ibgvr/101819...

A school locked down after AI flagged a gun. It was a clarinet. A growing number of schools across the country use AI-powered surveillance to detect guns and contraband, all in the name of making schools safer. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Get oriented with The Trace’s best stories of the year.

"It’s not just mass shootings: Young adults are now exposed to more routine acts of gun violence at colleges and universities. According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 100 people were injured or killed in college or university shootings in 2025, higher than any other year in the past decade."

We inform journalistic practices to prevent harm and illuminate programs and policies that prevent gun violence. But we need your help.

"If they are doing anything, we just let them know what’s going on, basically give them the heads up, that we try and come before the actual SEPTA police come or police come."