Recent mass shootings in Buffalo, NY, Laguna Woods, CA, Uvalde, TX, and elsewhere across the country have again centered concerns about gun violence within public discourse. Our hearts are broken over this violence — gun violence disproportionately impacts communities of color, the LGBTQIA+ community, women, teenagers, and veterans. Guns have also been used in the increasing violence targeting Jewish and Muslim people in the United States.

We have gathered a few resources about the trauma from gun violence. This is not an exhaustive list.

UConn provides some research-based resources.:

• President Maric’s letter to the community about standing up to despair (5/27/22)
• UConn Faculty speak about using research to combat gun violence (3/31/22)
• UConn’s Advancing Research, Methods, and Scholarship (ARMS) for Gun Injury Prevention
  • ARMS faculty speak about combatting misinformation in gun policy debates (6/1/22)
  • ARMS twitter
  • ARMS faculty articles:
    • What Would it Mean to Treat Guns the Way We Treat Cars? (6/6/22)
    • House Democrats’ Sweeping Gun Control Package Could be Even Bigger (6/2/22)

We also recommend these resources:

• National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families resources on how to talk to children about gun violence (in English and en Español)
• American School Counselor’s Association resources for helping students after a school shooting.
• American Psychological Association’s resource on “Managing Your Distress in the Aftermath of a Shooting.
• American Counseling Association’s Resources for Dealing with Gun Trauma
• American Counseling Association’s Resources for Counselors and Clients in Dealing with Gun Violence

For more resources, including mental health resources for the AAPI, Black, Latinx, and LGBTQIA+ communities, please visit our “Anti-Racism Resources” page.

For UConn’s mental health services, please visit Student Health and Wellness (SHaW)’s resources for mental health at Storrs and at the regional campuses; student wellness resources at UConn Health; Human Resources mental health resources; resources for suicide prevention; the Student Care Team, which responds to concerns about individual student health and wellness; Holistic Huskies, a podcast on student mental health experiences; and UConn’s Wellness Coalition, a space for students to come together and develop innovative solutions to health and wellness issues on campus.

Veterans and active service members can find resources through the Veterans Affairs and Military Programs (VAMP), which provides student support services specifically for veterans, active service members, and their families attending UConn.  VAMP works closely with the Center for Students for Disabilities, which has a wealth of resources for veterans regardless of ability status. VAMP also works closely with state-based Veterans Centers that provide fully confidential mental and behavioral health assistance.

---