This year, the US Surgeon General declared firearm violence a public health crisis. At Clinical Congress, surgeons, community health professionals, and an attorney united to help guide surgeons on this issue.
Co-moderator Joseph V. Sakran, MD, MPH, MPA, FACS, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, and president of the board of directors and chief medical officer of the Brady Campaign and Center to Prevent Gun Violence in Washington, DC, survived a gunshot to the throat at age 17. He began on a personal note: “I come to this session not only as a physician but as a survivor, and that experience has really shaped a lot of the work I’ve done both at the bedside and beyond.”
“Beyond the bedside” was an apropos descriptor for the Panel Session, which focused on policy and community-based approaches to firearm violence prevention.
Dr. Sakran’s presentation included stark statistics: 48,117 lives were lost to gun violence in the US in 2022. “By conservative measures, for every death, there are probably two to three nonfatal injuries,” he said, adding that each injury, “could be a teachable moment and a chance for us to think about a comprehensive approach.”
Kristin Brown, JD, the president of the Brady Campaign and Center, added insights into policy. “States with stronger gun laws have far fewer per capita deaths and injuries,” she noted.
She also mentioned the Brady Center’s successes, including the “6 years and seven votes in Congress” it took to pass the Brady Bill, which established the US background check system.
Brown also brought up federal laws favoring the gun industry. “I want you to understand why these laws are so problematic and why we must fix them going forward,” she said.
In specific, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act provides the gun industry with uniquely robust immunity from civil liability, even in cases of negligence or defective products. The Tiahrt Amendment prevents public disclosure of dealers supplying guns known to be involved with crime.
“It matters because we have more gun dealers in this country than Starbucks and McDonald's combined,” she explained. “But we know that about 5% are responsible for 90% of guns recovered in crime. Unfortunately, you’re living with the reality of that in your trauma rooms.”
Two speakers from the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention in Oakland, California, senior advisor DeAngelo Mack and senior director Kyndra Simmons, addressed the role of physicians in community violence prevention. Mack explained, “Kyndra and I have worked with individuals who have been shot, stabbed, and severely assaulted.”
Both reinforced statements by Dr. Sakran and co-moderator Rochelle A. Dicker, MD, FACS, of the University of California San Francisco, who each had remarked on the outsized vulnerability of low-income communities of color to gun violence. Mack said these communities “have a healthy fear of institutions” that have historically mistreated them, and Simmons concurred, exhorting attendees “to think about fear in a different way, to think about layers of oppression.”
Simmons also stated that physicians can contribute to preventing gun violence in communities by stepping outside of institutions to connect with local people already championing safety. “Every city council will have a person there who represents themselves as a credible messenger, who has a license to operate,” she said, adding that such people may hold various job titles. “All you have to do is have a conversation with that person, and the door will be opened. But as long as you stay in the hospital, you will be seen as part of the institution.”
Attendees and panelists alike expressed commitment to community engagement, advocacy, and high-quality care. Words from Dr. Dicker also captured the session: “Our communities are hurting in many ways.”
