The University of California, Davis, has experts available to discuss research and provide commentary related to gun control; ballistics and the development of databases for firearms; the Second Amendment and its history; and disasters and mental health.

Gun access

Dr. Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the UC Davis Medical Center, is a national expert on gun violence and public attitudes about guns. Wintemute, a professor of emergency medicine, has conducted numerous studies about gun accessibility, connections between gun ownership and violence, etc. Contact: Dr. Garen Wintemute, Emergency Medicine, (916) 734-3083, gjwintemute@ucdavis.edu. The center can also provide relevant data at (916) 734-3539. [Note: He is unavailable today, Jan. 16.]

Ballistics

Fred Tulleners is an expert on identification and matching of bullets and firearms, and efforts to develop databases for firearms. He spent more than three decades working in criminalistics and law enforcement before joining UC Davis as administrative director of the forensic science program within UC Davis Extension. Most recently, he was director of the California Department of Justice laboratory in Sacramento, as well as director of the California Criminalistics Institute and the Sacramento and Santa Rosa county criminalistics laboratories. Contact: Fred Tulleners, Forensic Science, ftulleners@ucdavis.edu. [Note: Until Jan. 22, Tulleners can respond to questions by e-mail only.]

Second Amendment and its history

Carlton Larson specializes in constitutional law and can comment in particular on the Second Amendment and its history. Contact: Carlton Larson, School of Law, (530) 754-5731, clarson@ucdavis.edu.

Active shooter training

Matt Carmichael, chief of police at UC Davis, can talk about "active shooter" training intended to increase the likelihood of surviving a shooting incident. Carmichael developed UC Davis' Active Shooter Survival Workshop, geared to members of the campus community, in 2007 following the Virginia Tech massacre. The class is regularly presented to faculty, students and staff at UC Davis and other campuses. More information. Video. Contact: Matt Carmichael, UC Davis Police, (530) 752-3113, mecarmichael@ucdavis.edu.

Disasters and mental health

Dr. Peter Yellowlees, a professor of psychiatry, has undertaken a large number of forensic psychiatric examinations and been involved in creating curricula for disaster preparedness and responses, and in teaching about post-traumatic stress disorders. Yellowlees has developed a "Disaster Mental Health Series" of continuing medical education courses that address anxiety disorders after a disaster, coping among survivors, and delivering bad news to families and survivors. He is in favor of gun control. Contact: David Ong, UC Davis Health System Medical Science Public Affairs, (916) 734-9049, david.ong@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.