Repairing abandoned houses found to reduce nearby gun violence

Installing new doors and windows, trash cleanup, and weeding at abandoned houses in Philadelphia led to substantial drops in nearby gun violence, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine and School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings suggest that fixing dilapidated, abandoned houses is an inexpensive intervention that local governments can add to their prevention efforts to address the current gun violence crisis.