California attorney general cuts off researchers’ access to gun violence data

Xavier Becerra's justice department has denied access to data used to evaluate firearms laws and policies

For decades, America's gun violence researchers fought an uphill battle against the National Rifle Association to obtain the data and funding they need to study the effects of US gun laws. But researchers in California say they are now facing a different, unexpected hurdle: the state's outgoing Democratic attorney general.

Under Xavier Becerra, who has been nominated to serve as Joe Biden's health secretary, California's department of justice started to deny researchers access to firearms data used to evaluate a wide range of gun laws and policies.