In 2020, the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic raged on as a steadily spreading infectious disease continued to blaze its path across the United States. During that fateful year, gun violence claimed the lives of 45,222 Americans, making it the deadliest year in history for gun deaths to that point.
The path to each death is multilayered and complex. Every American killed by bullets and every family grieving a loved one needs a copy of this book. I never thought that I would write a story like this.
I am a gun-owning emergency physician, father, and cousin of the man who was shot. If the National Rifle Association hadn’t declared in 2018 that doctors like me should “stay in our lane” and remain silent about the ravages of this epidemic, I wouldn’t be writing about this topic. It would have been. But gun violence takes my life. I see children, youth, and adults almost every day who are victims of gun violence due to family tragedies.
Dealing with violence and death means repairing the wounds of gunshot victims, attempting heroic measures in the trauma bay, caring for the injured with utmost care in the intensive care unit, and more. Or it is the duty of those who have had to admit defeat in front of their eyes. Loved ones. There is no worse feeling than having to tell a mother or father that their child was killed by a bullet. We have been practicing and perfecting evidence-based medicine for decades. Similarly, we should implement medical policies based on scientific evidence. As it pertains to guns, some of that evidence already exists.
As a physician, I understand the limitations of science. At least in the biomedical field, the best research typically requires the results of randomized clinical trials, but it is often impractical to conduct them for policy development. In public health, the next best option is a natural experiment. In this experiment, a policy is implemented in one jurisdiction and not in a similar neighboring jurisdiction, allowing policymakers to observe the differences.
The RAND Corporation’s Science of Gun Policy, a collection of research on U.S. gun policy, typically relies on this type of research to inform its analysis. The arguments about the effects of different policies that can affect people’s lives amid this gun violence epidemic are sometimes inconclusive, sometimes weak, sometimes strong, but overall the analysis currently describes a myriad of policy measures that lawmakers can take, and in my opinion, should: Implement quickly at the federal, state, and local levels. Evidence shows that you can save lives by:
Background checks by federal firearms licensees for every firearm purchase Licenses and permits for individuals who wish to purchase firearms Raising the minimum age for all firearm purchases to 21 Strong child access laws Short waiting periods Existing firearms A domestic violence restraining order requiring the waiver of.
But I think there are two more laws that should be repealed. Their presence in society should alarm doctors, advocates, and law makers.
Policy Prescription #1: Turn the tables.
On February 26, 2012, Trayvon Martin, a black man about my height and build, was walking through his neighborhood in Sanford, Florida, after purchasing a bag of Skittles and a drink. He was effectively being stalked by the leader of a local surveillance patrol. After a 911 dispatcher urged an overzealous neighborhood watchman to avoid the altercation, Martin lay on the ground and died from a single bullet that pierced his heart and lungs.
All of the young man’s hopes and dreams of one day becoming an aviator were ultimately acquitted of murder by Florida’s tough-talking laws that created a culture of approach, taunt, and kill. shattered by. It is certain that his resolute stance contributed to the boy’s death.
