{"id":8383,"date":"2023-10-26T20:20:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-26T13:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8383"},"modified":"2023-10-26T20:20:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-26T13:20:27","slug":"gun-violence-in-america-is-a-public-health-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8383","title":{"rendered":"Gun Violence in America Is a Public Health Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Editor&#8217;s Note: This article was originally published on August 5, 2019. However, its message\u2014that gun violence is a public health crisis in America and must be addressed with swift gun control legislation\u2014remains relevant. We are resurfacing it now in the wake of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2023\/10\/25\/us\/lewiston-maine-shooting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2023\/10\/25\/us\/lewiston-maine-shooting\">shootings in Lewiston, Maine, on October 25, 2023<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The back-to-back massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, in August 2019\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/08\/04\/us\/dayton-ohio-active-shooter\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2019\/08\/04\/us\/dayton-ohio-active-shooter\/index.html\">which together left 29 people dead and another 53 injured<\/a>\u2014marked the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunviolencearchive.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.gunviolencearchive.org\/\">251st and 252nd mass shootings of the year<\/a> in the United States. Since then, three more mass shootings that didn&#8217;t make the national news have occurred, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gunviolencearchive.org\/reports\/mass-shooting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.gunviolencearchive.org\/reports\/mass-shooting\">according to the Gun Violence Archive<\/a> (a nonprofit that tracks America&#8217;s gun violence statistics). Some perspective: Today is the 217th day of the year. A quick math equation reveals the awful truth: The United States is moving at the breakneck (and, frankly, devastating) pace to average more than one mass shooting per day.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s an adjective invoked often when discussing gun violence. It&#8217;s described as &#8220;unspeakable&#8221;\u2014&#8221;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/06\/us\/allen-texas-mall-shooter-reports\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/06\/us\/allen-texas-mall-shooter-reports\/index.html\">unspeakable tragedy<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.durbin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/durbin-duckworth-pass-resolution-honoring-lives-of-highland-park-shooting-victims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.durbin.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/durbin-duckworth-pass-resolution-honoring-lives-of-highland-park-shooting-victims\">unspeakable act of violence<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/delauro.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/delauro-statement-ahead-seventh-anniversary-sandy-hook-shooting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/delauro.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/delauro-statement-ahead-seventh-anniversary-sandy-hook-shooting\">unspeakable massacre<\/a>,&#8221; &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cruz.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/sen-cruz-issues-statement-marking-one-year-since-the-el-paso-shooting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cruz.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/sen-cruz-issues-statement-marking-one-year-since-the-el-paso-shooting\">unspeakable evil<\/a>&#8220;\u2014and then, like a collective, self-fulfilling prophecy, it becomes just that: a widespread crisis that feels so uncontrollable that grasping for the right words to solve it feels like gasping for air.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Newtown-shootings-of-2012\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/event\/Newtown-shootings-of-2012\">The Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting claimed 28 lives in 2012<\/a>, and since then, I&#8217;ve been bitingly aware of the armor I&#8217;ve built up against the reality that <a href=\"https:\/\/everytownresearch.org\/gun-violence-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/everytownresearch.org\/gun-violence-america\/\">more that 100 Americans are killed with guns every 24 hours<\/a>. The thing is though, this armor doesn&#8217;t deflect, but instead temporarily <em>numbs <\/em>me to the figures that enumerate the lives cut short, the families with one less person at the dinner table, and the internal outcry of &#8220;What if?&#8221; that now accompanies stepping into public gathering places like malls, movie theaters, and concert venues. What we have on our hands is nothing short of a public health crisis that demands to be verbalized. Not only right now, but for the remaining 148 days of 2019\u2014and all the days that follow.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>What we have on our hands is nothing short of a public health crisis that demands to be verbalized.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdcfoundation.org\/what-public-health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cdcfoundation.org\/what-public-health\">defines &#8220;public health&#8221;<\/a> as the concern &#8220;with protecting the health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood, or as big as an entire country or region of the world.&#8221; Clearly, gun violence now presents a &#8220;threat&#8221; to the entire population of people living in America. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/popclock\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/popclock\/\">nearly 330 million people<\/a> currently living in the U.S., and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/other\/poll-finding\/americans-experiences-with-gun-related-violence-injuries-and-deaths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/other\/poll-finding\/americans-experiences-with-gun-related-violence-injuries-and-deaths\/\">more than half have experienced some form of gun violence<\/a>, or know someone who has, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. In 2016, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ama-assn.org\/press-center\/press-releases\/ama-calls-gun-violence-public-health-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ama-assn.org\/press-center\/press-releases\/ama-calls-gun-violence-public-health-crisis\">declared gun violence a public health crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Considering that gun violence has long been considered a crisis, why is it not treated in tandem with <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinedegrees.kent.edu\/college-of-public-health\/public-health\/community\/4-devastating-public-health-crises-decade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/onlinedegrees.kent.edu\/college-of-public-health\/public-health\/community\/4-devastating-public-health-crises-decade\">other public health crises<\/a>\u00a0(like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/opioid-abuse-women\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/opioid-abuse-women\/\">opioid epidemic<\/a>)? For identified public health crises, The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/\">World Health Organization<\/a> (WHO) outlines strategies centered around &#8220;crisis preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.&#8221; The latter aspect cannot be overstated. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/gun-violence-victims-emotional-trauma\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/gun-violence-victims-emotional-trauma\/\">emotional trauma in the aftermath of shootings<\/a> can live on in survivors for years after the news cycle has moved onto the next mass shooting. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/drcolleendcira\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/drcolleendcira\/\">Colleen Cira, PsyD<\/a>, the founder and executive director of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ciracenter.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow noreferrer\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/ciracenter.org\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\">Cira Center for Behavioral Health<\/a>, previously told Well+Good that the first month following a traumatic event is often characterized by a condition called acute stress disorder. &#8220;The body is in a state of hyper arousal. That means the nervous system is constantly running as though there is a danger 24\/7, even when [the person] is now safe, leading to a feeling of always having to look over your shoulder, irritability, and anxiety,&#8221; explained Dr. Cira. And that&#8217;s not all: The <em>Journal of Traumatic Stress\u00a0<\/em>estimated that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24151000\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/24151000\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" class=\"no-underline citation\"><span>7 to 10 percent of trauma victims suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)<\/span><sup>1<\/sup><\/a>, a condition that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/20008198.2017.1375338\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/20008198.2017.1375338\">the <em>Journal European Journal of Psychotraumatology\u00a0<\/em>declared a public health issue in 2017<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The message here is abundantly clear\u2014and has been <em>spoken<\/em>, quite plainly, by the world&#8217;s leading health experts. For too long, these events have been labeled as unspeakable, when in fact, so many of us just don&#8217;t want to hear the solution: gun control. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2017\/10\/australia-gun-control\/541710\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/international\/archive\/2017\/10\/australia-gun-control\/541710\/\">steps the United States could take today<\/a>\u00a0to restrict access to firearms and finally put a stop to gun violence. (A 1996 shooting in Australia left 35 people dead and 23 wounded, prompting legislation that caused a dramatic decline in gun crimes.) Nonprofit organizations like <a href=\"https:\/\/everytown.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/everytown.org\/\">Everytown for Gun Safety<\/a> have adhered to the WHO&#8217;s guidelines for facing large-scale loss of human life. They&#8217;ve <a href=\"https:\/\/everytownresearch.org\/law\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/everytownresearch.org\/law\/\">assembled a team of litigators<\/a> to help Americans navigate the criminal justice system in the wake of gun violence, and have clamored for background checks that would &#8220;mitigate&#8221; future tragedies. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.csgv.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.csgv.org\/\">The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joycefdn.org\/programs\/gun-violence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.joycefdn.org\/programs\/gun-violence\">The Joyce Foundation<\/a> are doing similar work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/gun-violence-in-america\/\" current-title=\"America\u2019s Gun Violence Is a Public Health Crisis, Not Just an \u2018Unspeakable\u2019 Tragedy\" current-image=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/8-5-news-gun-violence-is-a-health-epidemic_final-425x285_418x278_true_70.webp\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-04-26\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/gun-violence-in-america\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/gun-violence-in-america\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/gun-violence-in-america\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>All Americans have the opportunity to alter the future of how the U.S. comes to grips with the Second Amendment. Our jobs, as voters\u2014and as human beings\u2014is to take action.<\/p>\n<p><i>If you or someone you has experienced trauma related to gun violence, please call the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.counseling.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.counseling.org\">American Counseling Association<\/a> at 1-800-985-5990.<\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"block-thin post-citations mt-[40px] mb-[30px]\" data-module-init=\"main-2020\/post-citations\" data-module-immediate=\"true\">\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mb-[24px]\"\/>\n<div class=\"post-citations-content flex flex-col gap-[24px]\">\n<p>Well+Good articles reference scientific, reliable, recent, robust studies to back up the information we share. You can trust us along your wellness journey.<\/p>\n<div>\n<ol class=\"!ml-[18px] !mt-0\">\n<li>\n              Kilpatrick, Dean G et al. \u201cNational estimates of exposure to traumatic events and PTSD prevalence using DSM-IV and DSM-5 criteria.\u201d\u00a0<i>Journal of traumatic stress<\/i>\u00a0vol. 26,5 (2013): 537-47. doi:10.1002\/jts.21848            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Kathryn M.\u00a0Magruder,\u00a0Katie A.\u00a0McLaughlin\u00a0&amp;\u00a0Diane L.\u00a0Elmore Borbon\u00a0(2017)\u00a0Trauma is a public health issue,\u00a0European Journal of Psychotraumatology,\u00a08:1,\u00a0DOI:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/20008198.2017.1375338\">10.1080\/20008198.2017.1375338<\/a>            <\/li>\n<li>\n              Shannon Schumacher, Ashley Kirzinger, and Apr 2023. \u201cAmericans\u2019 Experiences with Gun-Related Violence, Injuries, and Deaths.\u201d\u00a0<i>KFF<\/i>, 14 Apr. 2023, www.kff.org\/other\/poll-finding\/americans-experiences-with-gun-related-violence-injuries-and-deaths\/.            <\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mt-[24px]\"\/>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor&#8217;s Note: This article was originally published on August 5, 2019. However, its message\u2014that gun violence is a public health crisis in America and must be addressed with swift gun control legislation\u2014remains relevant. We are resurfacing it now in the wake of the shootings in Lewiston, Maine, on October 25, 2023.\u00a0 The back-to-back massacres in &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}