Physicians—and medical students—must demand change to curtail gun violence

摘要

In 2016, U.S. firearm mortality totaled 38,658 deaths, with nearly 60 percent of these deaths resulting from suicide. According to reported injury data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for every one person killed by a firearm, nearly two received non-fatal wounds. Among these, mass shootings are particularly devastating incidents and have resulted in more than 850 deaths and 350 injured since 2009. Twenty-five percent of these victims have been children. Sadly, these numbers keep growing, yet there has not been meaningful progress in addressing this public health crisis.