Josh Horwitz, JD, is the co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Horwitz is also the inaugural Dana Feitler Professor of the Practice in Gun Violence Prevention and Advocacy in the Department of Health Policy and Management. In this role, Horwitz, a leading gun violence prevention advocate and expert, teaches health advocacy courses that prepare health professionals to advance policy improvements. Prior to his time at the Bloomberg School, Horwitz led the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence for 30 years.
As part of the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, Horwitz helped develop and advance Extreme Risk Protection Order laws (also known as “Red Flag Laws”) that allow the court to temporarily remove firearms when there are warning signs of someone being at risk of harming themselves or others. To date, ERPO laws have been adopted in 21 states and Washington, D.C. Research shows they are effective in reducing both gun suicides and mass shootings.
He co-authored the 2009 book Guns, Democracy and the Insurrections Idea, which identified the anti-democratic potential of easy access to guns combined with an emerging tolerance for political violence on the political right.
Horwitz received his Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School and his BA in history from the University of Michigan. He was a visiting scholar at the Bloomberg School for five years, from 2006 to 2011, and an associate for 11 years, from 2011 to 2022.
