Policy Currents | The newsletter for policy people
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** Oct. 31, 2023
Addressing Gun Violence in America

Last week, a gunman opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people and injuring 13 others. The shooting was the deadliest in the United States this year.

Through the RAND Gun Policy in America initiative, our researchers have been seeking to better understand the country's enduring problem with gun violence. They've reviewed thousands of studies to learn what scientific evidence says--and doesn't say--about the effects of gun policies.

One of those RAND researchers, Rosanna Smart, was quoted in TIME magazine this week about the Lewiston shooting. She noted that, while there's limited evidence to show which laws prevent mass shootings specifically, bans on high-capacity magazines appear to reduce the number of deaths in mass shootings. Beyond addressing these horrifying events, Smart said that reducing overall gun deaths in the United States will require preventing firearm suicides.

Smart also recently appeared in a RAND explainer video on this topic. She highlighted which gun policies are supported by evidence; discussed what created the current evidence gap that she and her colleagues are striving to fill; and, crucially, warned that the absence of evidence that a policy will work is not the same thing as the existence of evidence that the policy won't work.

"Policymakers who want to address gun violence may need to rely on logic or weaker evidence until the science and data catches up," she said.

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What North Korea Is Learning from Hamas

What might North Korean leader Kim Jong-un have taken away from Hamas's heinous attacks against Israel? According to RAND's Bruce Bennett, Kim is unlikely to resort to a Hamas-style attack on South Korea. However, Kim does share Hamas's goal of cultivating U.S. reluctance to intervene militarily in his neighborhood. Thus, his regime may continue or even escalate its lower-level provocations, including missile launches. Kim knows that such actions can demonstrate his power while avoiding serious South Korean and U.S. responses--at least for now.

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U.S.-China Competition for Digital Infrastructure

Digital infrastructure includes everything from cloud computing and wireless networks to satellites and microchips. A new RAND report explores the competition for digital infrastructure that's already underway between the United States and China. What might these digital networks look like in 2050? And what are the implications for future military competition and potential conflict?

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** RAND Recommends
- Yesterday, President Biden issued an executive order focused on "safe, secure, and trustworthy artificial intelligence." RAND president and CEO Jason Matheny highlighted that many elements of the order are consistent with recommendations from RAND experts.
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- RAND's Daniel Egel was quoted by Al-Monitor about the Israel-Hamas war: "For there to be a viable two-state future, or any future, for the Palestinians after the war, there needs to be a plan for integration into the regional economy."
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- In our latest episode of the Policy Currents podcast, RAND Europe research leader Sana Zakaria and RAND senior research engineer Timothy Marler discuss what happens when AI and gene editing come together.
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** Events
A New Approach to Power Projection: Reversing the Erosion of U.S. and Allied Military Power and Influence
Friday, November 3, 2023 (Washington, D.C., and Online)
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RAND Behavioral Finance Forum 2023
Monday, November 6, 2023 (Washington, D.C., and Online)
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** Subscribe to the Policy Currents Podcast
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** About RAND
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.

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