40,000 People Need Us To Think Differently About Gun Violence

Imagine a stadium packed full of people – of every age, religion and cultural background – coming together from all over the U.S. 40,000: that’s how many people died this past year from guns, the highest number in 50 years. 

Gun Violence Awareness Day isn’t about using those deaths as an opportunity to fight for control over a highly lucrative industry or win votes in a tight political race. It’s about acknowledging the need to take care of the lives of our fellow humans before another stadium full of formerly beating hearts is filled again. And that means a look at the science behind why this issue persists.

We need pointed, strategic research that will help us see through the divisions of politics to find answers for this human issue. We need active, open dialogue that pushes conversations forward, not back. We need common sense solutions that will create immediate changes. 

Let’s take a look at some of existing knowledge: Since 1982, there have been at least 110 mass shootings in the U.S. Gun deaths through suicide are on the rise. And there’s a potential link between gun deaths and drugs, according to Bob Anderson, chief of mortality statistics at the CDC. He’s noted the opioid crisis happening right now and how the rise in gun deaths harkens back to the drug use of the 70s, 80s and 90s during epidemics of heroine and crack cocaine.

Shouting does nothing. Fighting accomplishes little. Real change happens through acknowledging this as the public health crisis it is and finding solutions together.  

There is no map for this kind of complicated issue, but a map won’t ever exist until we have more details. So we’re looking closely at historical examples where humans have dramatically changed the amount of lives lost by taking action. 

1800s: The Seatbelt

It wasn’t until the 1930s that people began using seatbelts in cars, even though they were invented in the 1800s. Physicians were the first to test the belts and put pressure on manufacturers to put one in every car. 
The seatbelt is now so pervasive, you’d think it had always been there. But the three-point seatbelt as we know it wasn’t created until August of 1959. It has since been named one of the most significant patents created and has saved over a million lives. Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin created it, inspired by the loss of a family member in a car accident. Volvo opened the new seatbelt technology to its competitors to save human lives instead of instead of simply capitalizing on the proprietary technology for themselves to sell more cars. 

Here’s the thing. Even once seat belts were installed with shoulder belts in all passenger cars in 1968, only about 11% of people actually used them by the year 1982. It wasn’t until secondary and primary state laws were created that adoption became prevalent. By 1995, nearly every state had implemented laws. “In a 2005 study, Farmer and Williams found that passenger vehicle driver death rates dropped by 7% when States changed from secondary to primary enforcement.” – CDC

Research and experimentation coupled with common sense safety laws have saved millions of lives—today it’s nearly unthinkable to not click it before you roll on down the road.

2019: Window Covering Cords

Window cords are one of the “top five hidden hazards” that exist in U.S. homes, putting infants and children at risk of strangulation. Nearly once a month, a child dies(and others are injured) from window cord strangulation: “We’ve known about this problem since the 1940s, yet we continue to see these deaths. This is simply unacceptable because we know how to prevent them.” —Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

One grieving mother started a movement to change the industry and help other families avoid the same tragedyfrom hidden dangers in the home. Her group not only helped disseminate everyday strategies to childproof homes, but worked with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to push for improved safety standards across the window covering industry. Today, the newest safety standards require that more than 80% of all products sold in the U.S. and Canada are either cordless or have cords that are inaccessible to kids. 

Research and common sense safety laws for manufacturers prevailed again, lowering future mortality rates and pushing open conversations about new ways we can look out for the smallest among us—one window at a time.

Data talks, let’s dive in and make some common sense decisions from there.

In a vitriolic political landscape where the battle for what each side wants doesn’t end, it seems impossible that anyone can take any action that will save future lives outside of legislation. With gun research blocked for over two decades, it’s time for us to figure out how to do something – anything – that can address this critical health issue. 

Jay Dickey himself, the Republican congressman who helped establish The Dickey Amendment (which blocked gun violence research by the CDC), changed his mind on the issue just before his death. After witnessing the mass shootings taking place across the country, he thought it might just be possible to research the issue further while protecting rights, saying, “We need to turn this over to science and take it away from politics.”

We couldn’t agree more. 40,000 people in one year is far too many to avoid looking more thoughtfully and analytically into the real impact of our gun culture. It’s not about stripping rights and freedoms, it’s about asking tough questions and looking at data that can help us get to common sense practices that keep our families, co-workers, neighbors and friends safer. 

And alive. #WearOrange