Daniel Webster
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Daniel Webster
@daniel-webster.bsky.social

Gun violence researcher & professor @ Johns Hopkins | baseball nerd and Orioles & Nationals fan | dog lover

Daniel W. Webster is an American health policy researcher and the distinguished research scholar of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is also the deputy director for research at the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, and the first Bloomberg Professor of American Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In 2016, he became the director of the Johns Hopkins-Baltimore Collaborative for Violence Reduction, a joint crime-fighting effort between Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Police Department. .. more

Psychology 29%
Political science 26%

Makes sense to me. Thanks for sharing.

So Baltimore & StL local leaders, public safety professionals including CVI workers faced enormous challenges and yet reduced homicide rates from their recent peaks by 40-45/100K in just a few years.
BTW, St Louis & Baltimore have commonalities that go a long way to explain their high homicide rates relative to other cities. Each is geographically small, are their own county and thus don’t benefit from suburban resources, lots of race- and policy-driven concentrated disadvantage & disinvestment.
New Orleans has also produced an incredible absolute reduction in homicide rates of 40.7/100 K population (-56%) from its peak to 2025. I applauded all cities reductions and underscore that nationwide policies and forces are at play. But Baltimore , St Louis & New Orleans deserve special love!

BTW, St Louis & Baltimore have commonalities that go a long way to explain their high homicide rates relative to other cities. Each is geographically small, are their own county and thus don’t benefit from suburban resources, lots of race- and policy-driven concentrated disadvantage & disinvestment.
New Orleans has also produced an incredible absolute reduction in homicide rates of 40.7/100 K population (-56%) from its peak to 2025. I applauded all cities reductions and underscore that nationwide policies and forces are at play. But Baltimore , St Louis & New Orleans deserve special love!
We mostly see year to date comparisons of homicides for cities. The overall % reductions in the past few years is historic. But St Louis & Baltimore have had the largest absolute reduction in rates per 100K Pop from their 12-mo rolling peak to 2025 - 44.9 (-44%) and 39.5 (61%) respectively.

Has to be a bit of both. Historic declines in homicides are widespread, clearly indicating national policies ($s for violence prevention & public safety, ban of ghost guns, Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, tough oversight of gun sellers). Some cities took the best strategies w/ best implementation.

Reposted by Daniel Webster

(Side note:
As a journalist I am still shocked by how quickly the attack on the CDC was set aside.
How rarely I have read the name David Rose in the past few months is for me a pretty good indicator of how much a large swathe of US media has failed to meet this moment.)

Can anyone think of a death rate from ANY cause in a major city drop by ~40/100K population per year over a 3-year period? St Louis and Baltimore did what many thought couldn’t be done to lower their homicide rates. 👏👏🙌
We mostly see year to date comparisons of homicides for cities. The overall % reductions in the past few years is historic. But St Louis & Baltimore have had the largest absolute reduction in rates per 100K Pop from their 12-mo rolling peak to 2025 - 44.9 (-44%) and 39.5 (61%) respectively.
Looking at the historic reduction in US homicides from many angles. I appreciate the Real-Time Crime Index data - 12-month rolling trends for 570 cities 2018-2025. But this graph from U Chicago Crime Lab made me appreciate what Baltimore and St Louis have accomplished from their peak to 2025.

New Orleans has also produced an incredible absolute reduction in homicide rates of 40.7/100 K population (-56%) from its peak to 2025. I applauded all cities reductions and underscore that nationwide policies and forces are at play. But Baltimore , St Louis & New Orleans deserve special love!
We mostly see year to date comparisons of homicides for cities. The overall % reductions in the past few years is historic. But St Louis & Baltimore have had the largest absolute reduction in rates per 100K Pop from their 12-mo rolling peak to 2025 - 44.9 (-44%) and 39.5 (61%) respectively.
Looking at the historic reduction in US homicides from many angles. I appreciate the Real-Time Crime Index data - 12-month rolling trends for 570 cities 2018-2025. But this graph from U Chicago Crime Lab made me appreciate what Baltimore and St Louis have accomplished from their peak to 2025.

We mostly see year to date comparisons of homicides for cities. The overall % reductions in the past few years is historic. But St Louis & Baltimore have had the largest absolute reduction in rates per 100K Pop from their 12-mo rolling peak to 2025 - 44.9 (-44%) and 39.5 (61%) respectively.
Looking at the historic reduction in US homicides from many angles. I appreciate the Real-Time Crime Index data - 12-month rolling trends for 570 cities 2018-2025. But this graph from U Chicago Crime Lab made me appreciate what Baltimore and St Louis have accomplished from their peak to 2025.
Looking at the historic reduction in US homicides from many angles. I appreciate the Real-Time Crime Index data - 12-month rolling trends for 570 cities 2018-2025. But this graph from U Chicago Crime Lab made me appreciate what Baltimore and St Louis have accomplished from their peak to 2025.
BREAKING: Judge James Boasberg rules for those deported under the Alien Enemies Act on March 15 — certifying a class, finding the U.S. maintained constructive custody over them at CECOT, finding they were not given due process, and ordering return or that such process be given by Jan. 5, 2026.
A new report from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have devastating health and economic consequences for the nation.
New report sounds alarm on health fallout from mRNA vaccine funding cuts
A new report from the Yale School of Public Health warns that the U.S. government’s abrupt cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine research could have
ysph.yale.edu

I’m happy to see some of my research and this of my colleagues cited in this report. One omission to the state policy recommendations is firearm purchaser licensing. Research shows this is one of the most effective measures to curb straw purchases and other trafficking and ultimately reduce violence
EGS connects the dots & $s between bad actors in the gun industry, traffickers, and gun violence. Exceptional efforts to curb gun trafficking under Biden, Trump’s gift to those profiting from gun trafficking by undoing those efforts, & sound policies states should adopt to minimize the harms. 👏👏
The Trump Administration rolled back Biden-era efforts to hold gun dealers accountable and reassigned roughly 80% of ATF agents to carry out immigration operations.

Despite this, states still have many tools at their disposal to reduce gun trafficking and keep communities safe.

EGS connects the dots & $s between bad actors in the gun industry, traffickers, and gun violence. Exceptional efforts to curb gun trafficking under Biden, Trump’s gift to those profiting from gun trafficking by undoing those efforts, & sound policies states should adopt to minimize the harms. 👏👏
The Trump Administration rolled back Biden-era efforts to hold gun dealers accountable and reassigned roughly 80% of ATF agents to carry out immigration operations.

Despite this, states still have many tools at their disposal to reduce gun trafficking and keep communities safe.
How States Can Fight Gun Trafficking Despite Trump's Rollbacks
States have several tools at their disposal to stop gun trafficking in light of recent ATF cuts and reassignments.
smokinggun.org

Reposted by Daniel Webster

This is a reminder of how much it matters that pediatricians, public health specialists, scientists and members of the public who care about vaccines and science based recommendations continue to speak up. Many voices break through.
www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
RFK Jr. wanted to endorse the Danish vaccine schedule. He was forced to pull back.
Legal and political concerns prompted the health department to cancel a planned announcement on Friday, officials said.
www.politico.com
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?
www.nytimes.com

Immigrants have lower violent offending rates than US-born, more immigrants in a neighborhood ➡️ less violence. Few immigrants arrested and detained under Trump/Bondi have histories of violent offending. They gut ATF + CVI funding to bloat ICE & CBP. Goal is race & ethnic “purity” not safety.

Reposted by Daniel Webster

This is a real disaster in the making. Babies are going to die. Full-stop.

"Why Denmark’s vaccine schedule works for Denmark — but not for the United States." www.statnews.com/2025/12/19/d... via @statnews.com
Why Denmark's vaccine schedule works for Denmark — but not for the United States
With its vaccine schedule, “Denmark has made a values choice to accept preventable hospitalizations and illnesses that other countries have chosen to prevent.”
www.statnews.com

Like so many positive things that the Trump Admin is tearing down, their actions threaten to reverse the historic progress that most US cities in reducing homicides and other gun violence.
marylandmatters.org/2025/12/19/b...
Nice summary of the hard work behind Baltimore’s success in reducing gun violence - the most recent 12-month rolling average is 60% lower than its peak in Sept 2021. Surprised that Group Violence Reduction Strategy wasn’t mentioned. Lots of credit to go around.
Baltimore drove down gun deaths. Now Trump has slashed funding for that work. - Maryland Matters
A COVID spike in gun violence led federal officials to pour money into violence prevention efforts. It appeared to work in cities like Baltimore, where homicides plummeted. But with federal funding th...
marylandmatters.org

I’m glad to see the O’s invest in winning now. 🤞🤞

marylandmatters.org/2025/12/19/b...
Nice summary of the hard work behind Baltimore’s success in reducing gun violence - the most recent 12-month rolling average is 60% lower than its peak in Sept 2021. Surprised that Group Violence Reduction Strategy wasn’t mentioned. Lots of credit to go around.
Baltimore drove down gun deaths. Now Trump has slashed funding for that work. - Maryland Matters
A COVID spike in gun violence led federal officials to pour money into violence prevention efforts. It appeared to work in cities like Baltimore, where homicides plummeted. But with federal funding th...
marylandmatters.org

Wow! Prospects are only prospects- meaning lots of uncertainty about what they’ll do in MLB - but that seems like a hell of a lot to give up for a mid-level starter with a history of arm injuries.

Reposted by Daniel Webster

“Chairman Jordan made an excellent decision in not allowing Jack Smith to testify publicly, because had he done so, it would have been absolutely devastating to the President and all the president's men,” says @raskin.house.gov. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Jack Smith tells Congress he could prove Trump engaged in a 'criminal scheme' to overturn 2020 election
Smith testified about his investigations into Trump during a closed-door hearing with members of the House Judiciary Committee.
www.nbcnews.com

Reposted by Daniel Webster

Every single argument that House Republicans are making on the floor right now to justify attacking drug traffickers from Venezuela without Congressional authorization could be used by Venezuelans to justify military strikes on US gun shipments to Central America.

Reposted by Daniel Webster

Using the murder of Jews as springboard for attacking immigrants is unbearably anti-Semitic. Exodus 23:9 is practically the only fucking thing you could get a room of Jews to agree on.
Link to additional psychological resources: istss.org/public-resou...

@meganranney.bsky.social

Reposted by Daniel Webster

We honor the bravery of Ahmed al Ahmed, a bystander who risked his life to protect those under fire. The lesson, yet again, is all too clear: Our safety is bound up together.

Thanks for holding this up.
Buried under 12 paragraphs and 4 ads is this: that an investigation into the politicization of data was conducted not by … actually reviewing any data … but just by interviewing senior officials who disliked their chief.

So more politics.

Reposted by Daniel Webster

Buried under 12 paragraphs and 4 ads is this: that an investigation into the politicization of data was conducted not by … actually reviewing any data … but just by interviewing senior officials who disliked their chief.

So more politics.

Reposted by Daniel Webster

Trump has ZERO intention of ending gun violence & has just doubled down on gun rights by launching the DOJ 2nd Amendment Rights Section.

Also gun dealer inspections cut by two-thirds, “forced reset triggers” now allowed & $1B in school mental health grants and local gun-violence programs canceled.
Trump’s Justice Department launches a Second Amendment Rights Section for gun owners
“My Justice Department will continue to be the most pro-Second Amendment Justice Department in history,” Pam Bondi said. The practical implications matter.
www.ms.now

So well said, Ruth. My Jewish soul is reeling from this horrific act of violence, but this lifesaving l, selfless act of bravery brings solace.

I’ll weigh in on policies another day, but evidence-based policies depend on folks of different faiths & ideologies coming together in solidarity. 🕎
Ahmed Al Ahmed is the man who tackled the gunman in Australia. He is a Muslim. He saved lives. My Jewish soul is deeply grateful.

And this is what happens when we run towards each other. When we build relationships and coalitions and solidarity. We show up for each other. He showed up. Thank you.
WATCH: Bystander disarms active shooter at Bondi Beach in Sydney