Kids, Guns, and Public Health

High school students across the country planned a protest. They weren't protesting school lunches, teachers, grades or even educational curriculum.  They were protesting for their rights to feel safe in their schools.  Their rights to know that if an "active shooter" arrived on their school grounds with a gun, then their likelihood of returning to their homes that evening would be high.  The kids stated that the reasons they were protesting is that no one seems to be doing anything.  The kids felt that they had to sit idly by and watch and wait and hope and fear.  These young people have declared gun violence in the United States a public health issue.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently been given permission by Congress to study gun violence. The CDC's mission statement indicates that "The CDC works...to protect America from health, safety and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S." Gun violence in schools is all three. It threatens the health of our citizens, the safety of our families and the security of our young people.

Start with the Statistics
The statistics on this issue speaks volumes about how gun violence has infected our nation and created a public health threat to American children and young adults.

*Nearly 1300 children die each year from gunshot wounds
*Over 5700 children are injured each year from gunshot wounds
*Gun violence is the third leading cause of death overall for children in the U.S.
*Approximately 4.2% of children witnessed a shooting
*Number of mass shootings have tripled since 2011
*Of children killed in high-income nations, 87% of those are killed in the U.S.
*In 2018 to date, there have been 32 mass shootings
*In 2018 to date, 450 children, age 0-17, have died as a result of gun violence
*One-third of homicides are committed by someone under 18, two-thirds by someone 18 or older

Access to Guns
The question on everyone's minds is, how do these kids get access to guns? How do they come in contact with gun violence? In some cases, the guns are the property of friends, family members or other acquaintances.  The individuals have the guns in their homes already.  Perhaps, the guns are not stored in a safe place, children are not taught about gun safety, or the guns are taken for the shooter's purposes. Take for example, a 13-year-old boy who claimed an interest in guns.  He stated he was interested because he was "scared" and wanted to protect himself  and his sibling. The family members saw nothing wrong with his interest in guns, even though his ultimate intent was to shoot someone who scared him, or he disliked, or upset him.  Instead, adults rationalized the child's desires and said that they would like a gun to protect themselves, so it was okay if he had one. Upon further investigation, the child's reason was ill-founded since the town where he lived had a 71% lower violent crime rate than the national average. In a case such as this, it would have been better to not allow the child to have a gun. Furthermore, households that own guns are more likely to be involved in homicide than those who do not. Children need to be taught responsible gun ownership and gun safety. In fact, there is already a national initiative to prevent anyone under the age of 21 from owning a firearm.

Where Do We Go From Here
The American Public Health Association (APHA), has outlined six remedies to help cure gun violence in America: better surveillance, more research, common-sense gun policies, expanded access to mental health services, resources for school and community-based prevention, gun safety technology. Students across the country are protesting to bring awareness to the issue and to lobby for change. Citizens should contact their state and federal representatives to ensure gun violence is reduced. School districts and communities need to let go of the "that kind of thing won't happen here" mentality and start taking action in case "it did happen here." American citizens, as a whole, need to recognize gun violence in our country as a serious public health threat.



Sources
“Injury Prevention & Control.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Sept. 2016, www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/overview/key_data.html.
“About CDC 24-7.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Apr. 2014, www.cdc.gov/about/organization/mission.htm.
Fowler, Katherine A., et al. “Childhood Firearm Injuries in the United States.” Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 19 June 2017, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2017/06/15/peds.2016-3486.
“Preventing Gun Violence.” American Public Health Association, www.apha.org/~/media/files/pdf/factsheets/160317_gunviolencefs.ashx.
“Statistics on Gun Deaths & Injuries.” Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 8 June 2016, lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-deaths-and-injuries-statistics/.
“Gun Violence.” AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION, www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/gun-violence.
“Gun Violence Archive.” Gun Violence Archive, www.gunviolencearchive.org/.
“Statistics on Gun Deaths & Injuries.” Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 8 June 2016, lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-deaths-and-injuries-statistics/.
“Child Access Prevention.” Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/child-consumer-safety/child-access-prevention/.
“Teen Homicide, Suicide and Firearm Deaths.” Child Trends, www.childtrends.org/indicators/teen-homicide-suicide-and-firearm-deaths/.