Universities, private foundations, and states have done important research, but anything that kills and injures roughly 125,000 people a year deserves the full weight of the federal government to stop it, starting with research into the scope and causes of the problem as well as the effectiveness of solutions. Five years ago, the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council drew a road map for research that included studying the characteristics of people who acquire guns, how they use them and who they share them with as well as evaluating the risks of having a gun in the home and deepening our understanding of the effectiveness of gun-prevention programs.