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On November 3, 2025, NPR posted an article insisting on collective action to prevent gun violence. A gun violence action plan calls for a new emphasis on prevention sites that gun violence is now the leading cause of death in children and teens. According to the dean of the School of Public Health at Washington University in St Louis, there is a body of science that can inform and reduce the burden of injuries from firearm violence – for example, laws that ensure that guns do not fall in the hands of people who have a history of violence.
The University of Washington’s Social Development Group (SDRG) published a research brief on the effects of Communities That Care (CTC) on youth handgun carrying. Researchers at SDRG looked at the prevention benefits of the CTC system on handgun carrying. Using longitudinal data from the Community Youth Development Study (CYDS) for youth grades 6 through 12 and found that youth from CTC communities were about 27% less likely to carry a handgun.