To the Editor—Help, there was another terrible gun death in North Carolina.1 We are already distressed about the frequency of kids being shot in this state and around the country,2 and Winston Salem just recently experienced a gun-related tragedy.1

Firearm shootings are the most common cause of death among children.3,4 This includes being the most frequent cause of suicide among youth in this nation5 and in North Carolina.6 Firearm-related homicide impacting adolescents is a similar heartbreak.7 Gunfire at school is another problem.8 With action, these injuries and deaths might be prevented or attenuated.9–11

What should we do? This moment of grief is the time to try to mitigate such future events. What was done in the past has not been successful, and as a society, we need a new direction to diminish gunfire tragedies; the medical profession has an opportunity and the authority to suggest corrective measures.

Physicians have a position of respect within their communities that they can use for public health advocacy. We have had powerful experiences seeing the sequelae of gun violence on the physical, emotional, and mental health of people and on our society.

Physicians are thus encouraged to call and email their government leaders and representatives to ask for regulations to diminish gun violence. This includes state and US legislators, governors, mayors, and local officials. Also, medical professionals can ask county, state, and national medical organizations to host lectures or roundtables to deliberate possible remediation. Medical professionals can encourage medical school educators to add such discussions to the curriculum. A newspaper letter to the editor imparts regional impact; articles and commentaries published in medical journals publicize this issue widely.

Prevention extends to the doctor’s office. You can inquire about and recommend gun-related safety. Make this a part of your patient care.

Whenever a patient has an emotional crisis, substance abuse, serious medical issues, psychiatric illness, chronic pain, or similar incapacities, weapons are best to be removed from access. For patients with depression, hopelessness, or suicidal ideation, guns always need be inaccessible; the same applies during instances of intoxication or a transient personal upset. People themselves and families can facilitate this type of security. Otherwise, we can recommend that guns be kept unloaded with ammunition stored separately in locked compartments. Trigger locks do help to avoid accident frequency. Firearm use by children should be supervised by adults. Also, there are technologically safer guns that allow owner-only activation. New owners ought to undergo safety training.

Talk to your colleagues and recommend that a future medical meeting select firearm violence remediation as a topic. Hopefully, increased efforts to discuss and actively promote firearm safety and violence remediation will provide more security for us all, especially our children.

Acknowledgments

The author has no conflicts of interest to declare.

Correspondence

Address correspondence to Dr. Steven Lippmann (steven.lippmann@louisville.edu).