Welcome to the homepage of the Philadelphia Gun and Alcohol Study, also know as PGAS. The PGAS is a research project designed to study drinking, alcohol outlets, and shootings in the City of Philadelphia. The PGAS will help community leaders reduce gun violence in their neighborhoods. 

On an average year in the 1990s, over 35,000 people were shot and killed in the United States.  Alcohol is thought to be a risk factor for gun violence, potentially increasing the chances of shooting yourself or being shot by someone else.  In inner-city neighborhoods, shootings occur every day.  If these shootings are to be prevented, it is important to better understand what are thought to be their root causes, things like drinking and neighborhood decay.  This is the motivation behind the PGAS.

This site describes the PGAS which is being conducted at the University of Pennsylvania in partnership with the Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office, Philadelphia Fire Department, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.  Funding for the PGAS has been provided by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism under grant number R01AA013119.