(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish a center for research into firearm-related violence. It is the intent of the Legislature that the center be administered by the University of California pursuant to the following principles:

(1) Interdisciplinary work of the center shall address the following:

(A) The nature of firearm violence, including individual and societal determinants of risk for involvement in firearm violence, whether as a victim or a perpetrator.

(B) The individual, community, and societal consequences of firearm violence.

(C) Prevention and treatment of firearm violence at the individual, community, and societal levels.

(2) The center shall conduct basic, translational, and transformative research with a mission to provide the scientific evidence on which sound firearm violence prevention policies and programs can be based. Its research shall include, but not be limited to, the effectiveness of existing laws and policies intended to reduce firearm violence, including the criminal misuse of firearms, and efforts to promote the responsible ownership and use of firearms.

(3) The center shall work on a continuing basis with policymakers in the Legislature and state agencies to identify, implement, and evaluate innovative firearm violence prevention policies and programs.

(4) To help ensure a long-term and successful effort to understand and prevent firearm violence, the center shall recruit and provide specialized training opportunities for new researchers, including experienced investigators in related fields who are beginning work on firearm violence, young investigators who have completed their education, postdoctoral scholars, doctoral students, and undergraduates.

(5) As a supplement to its own research, the center may administer a small grant program for research on firearm violence. All research funds shall be awarded on the basis of scientific merit as determined by an open, competitive peer review process that assures objectivity, consistency, and high quality. All qualified investigators, regardless of institutional affiliation, shall have equal access and opportunity to compete for the funds.

(6) The peer review process for the selection of grants awarded under this program shall be modeled on the process used by the National Institutes of Health in its grantmaking process.

(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that on or before December 31, 2017, and every five years thereafter, the University of California transmit programmatic, as well as financial, reports to the state, including a report on the grants made, pending grants, program accomplishments, and the future direction of the program. The report shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(c) Subject to the conditions and requirements established elsewhere in statute, state agencies, including, but not limited to, the Department of Justice, the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Health Care Services, the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, and the Department of Motor Vehicles, shall provide to the center, upon proper request, the data necessary for the center to conduct its research.

(d) The center and all recipients of grants shall provide copies of their research publications to the Legislature and to agencies supplying data used in the conduct of that research as soon as is practicable following publication. These submissions shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.

(e) Toward these ends, the Legislature requests that the Regents of the University of California establish a Firearm Violence Research Center and administer the center and grant program pursuant to, and consistent with, the principles and goals stated herein.

(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 24, Sec. 30. (AB 1602) Effective June 27, 2016.)