The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery dedicated its June issue to revitalizing interest and stimulating participation among trauma surgeons to help reduce gun-related violence in the U.S., according to an editorial penned by two of its editors and a third physician.
The U.S. leads high-income countries in gun-related deaths, and nonfatal firearm violence in recent years has increased to 1995 levels, according to the report. For these reasons, the journal dedicated an entire issue to gun violence, including calls for research, reviews on the science of gunshot wounds and an update on the current efforts by the American College of Surgeons' Committee on Trauma.
"While our society has made impressive strides in technology and public education regarding other injuries, most notably those related to motor vehicles, we lag behind in gun safety," the authors wrote.
It calls for more research in three areas: prohibiting gun access to those at risk of committing violence against others; reducing the deadliness of guns, in particular assault-style weapons; and reducing opportunities for accidental gun-related injuries by improving gun safety. The authors call for relaxing constraints on gun violence research.
"While not banning research outright, federal action has had a chilling effect on firearm-related lines of study," the authors wrote. "Despite activism from medical professionals, 12 congressional bans on gun violence research have been renewed. Sen. John Boehner, when asked about the rationale for the prohibition, stated, '…a gun is not a disease.'"
The research is needed to help change social norms in the U.S., "that is, negotiate the tensions inherent in the American conception of an armed albeit democratic society," the authors wrote. And while this will not be easy, trauma surgeons have a unique proximity to research the causes and effects of gun violence on the job.
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