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For more than 20 years, federal law has effectively halted the government’s ability to research gun violence. Now, the shooting that killed 17 at a Florida high school in February has prompted a bipartisan group of lawmakers to take another look at the restrictions. As lawmakers tangle over other gun-violence prevention measures, Democrats and some centrist Republicans are pushing to eliminate a provision tucked into spending bills that has restricted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ability to conduct research on the topic. (Peterson, McKay and Armour, 2/28)

Mental health advocates are seizing on the new spotlight on their issue after the Florida shooting, as President Trump and congressional Republicans focus on mental health as a solution to gun violence. Some mental health groups want to use the renewed attention on mental illness to push for more resources to address what they see as major gaps in the country’s mental health system. (Weixel, 3/1)

After a former student shot two eighth-graders in 2010 in the same Colorado school district where the Columbine massacre took place, the district’s security chief John McDonald sought a way to thwart attacks by alumni. Mr. McDonald decided that the Jefferson County school district would treat former students who pose a threat the same way it treats current students. A case manager would be assigned to talk with them regularly, monitor their social media and check in with their therapists—even sometimes for years after they’ve graduated or left the school. (Elinson, 2/28)

Like clockwork, the National Rifle Association reduces gun injuries in the US for three days every year -- when it holds its annual convention. Authors of a Harvard Medical School report published in the New England Journal of Medicine examined the “natural experiment” that occurs when about 80,000 NRA members hole up in a conference center. The finding: a 20 percent drop in injuries inflicted by the weapons compared to the same days of the week in the three weeks before and after the event. (Cortez, 2/28)