This is another opportunity for the legions of nurses across this country to have our voices heard. We can work collaboratively with physicians, and other healthcare professionals to ask the Senate to vote on the Assault Weapons Ban Act before this current session ends in just a few weeks. We know that gun violence is a public health crisis. We have seen the devastation across our nursing specialties that the ravages of gun violence leave behind, the loss, the pain, and the trauma that goes through generations. We can stop the mayhem by adding our voices to our physicians and healthcare colleagues’ calls for action. THIS IS OUR LANE TOO!
This is printed with permission from Brady United, the content of this blog post comes directly from their site: https://www.bradyunited.org/act/thisisourlane#openletter
Brady United & This is Our Lane Open Letter
Dear Senators,
We are trauma surgeons, pediatricians, emergency medicine doctors, and healthcare professionals, and we’re in Washington, D.C., this week meeting with your offices to urge the Senate to bring the Assault Weapons Ban Act to a vote before the end of the current session. This past year, we’ve treated over 110,000 Americans who have been shot. Forty-five thousand of those never made it home. These senseless tragedies are increasing, with gun-related injuries becoming the leading cause of death in children and adolescents. Tackling this complex public health problem requires a number of solutions, one of the most important of which is banning assault weapons.
While this measure continues to gather dust in the Senate, the slaughter of Americans with military-style assault rifles has ripped apart families and communities across the country. From a grocery store in Buffalo and an LBGTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs to a July 4th parade in Highland Park and an elementary school in Uvalde, the one thing that holds true in all these circumstances is that the best medical treatment is prevention.
Assault weapons are uniquely deadly. Data demonstrates that mass-shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur under the federal assault weapons ban of 1994. And we have seen this firsthand. These weapons operate with such force they literally blow holes into human bodies. They liquefy organs and explode bones. While we do our best to save lives and treat the destruction caused by military weapons that leave bodies resembling blocks of swiss cheese, it’s not always possible. Sometimes, children’s bodies are left so unrecognizable that parents can only identify them through DNA tests.
While the care we provide to patients is critical, we have both the opportunity and responsibility to think beyond the bedside to advocate for solutions to address this public health crisis. From motor vehicle fatalities and tobacco to clean water and vaccines, healthcare professionals have always been at the forefront of addressing public health problems. We want to make sure our position is clear: Failing to pass an assault weapons ban means more patients on our operating tables and explaining to families that their loved one is never coming home.
We plead with you to bring the Assault Weapons Ban to a vote before the legislative session ends. And we call on all others to join us, Brady, This is Our Lane, and our partner March Fourth by contacting your senators and demanding the Senate pass this life-saving bill without delay.
Signed,
Aaron Wolfe, DO
Amy Shriver, MD FAAP
Angela Scott, MD, FAAP
Ashley B. Hink, MD, MPH
Bijan Ketabchi, MD, MPH
Brian Eichner, MD
Brian R. Stork, MD, FACS
Brittany Ebbing, MD, MPH
Cathy White, MD
Christina Colosimo, DO MS
Christopher Turner, MD MPH
Cynthia Carter, DO
Dorothy R. Novick, MD
Dr. Morgan Wurtz
Dr. Vladimirovna Tatiana, DO
Dr. Cassandra Stegall, DO
Dr. Jennifer Gemmill Eileen Broomall, MD
Elliot Lieberman, MD
Emily Lieberman, MD
Habib Khoury, MD
Halleh Akbarnia, MD FACEP
Hannah Boutros-Khoury, M.D.
James McJunkin, MD
Jena Krueger, MD
Jennifer Rubin, MD
Jenny Stevens, MD MPH
Jerrold Eichner, MD
Jordan Vaughn, MD
Kelsey Gastineau, MD FAAP
Kerith E. Spicknall, MD
Kristen Kann, MD
Kristine M. Pleacher, MD
Lindsay D. Clukies, MD
Maya Haasz, MD
Melissa Kelley, MD
Nadja Peter, MD
Nicholas Puoplo, MD
Nicole M. King, MD
Peter T. Masiakos, MD, MS, FACS, FAAP
Rebecca Meyers, MD
Roy Guerrero, MD
Sabah Servaes, MD
Seth Trueger, MD MPH FACEP
Sheena Gupta McKenzie, MD, MBA, FAAP
Sofia Chaudhary, MD
Terence McAllister, MD FAAP
Mary Ottolini, MD
Zachary Beck Domont, MD
