The research agenda should include exploration into: 1) the effects of firearm use on the mortality and morbidity costs of violence; 2) the extent to which particular firearm interventions can reduce the costs of violence by limiting use of firearms; and 3) the extent to which the benefits of firearm interventions justify public and private expenditures on them. Some key issues that should be studied are the relationship between firearms and suicide, and the long-range costs and benefits of gun control. In 1990, a firearm was the instrument of death in 18,885 suicides, 16,218 homicides, and 1,416 accidents. Research-informed interventions have produced tremendous reductions in highway fatalities (in terms of deaths per miles driven) but no such research has been dedicated toward reducing firearm fatalities. Chart, 18 references