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Abstract
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After a chaotic week in which gun safety measures were struck down by the Supreme Court and enacted by Biden, the time to act is now.
Recently, I was standing inside the Dirksen Senate Office Building, waiting to be ushered into the Senate gallery to witness the voting on and passage of the first piece of commonsense gun legislation in nearly 30 years. The committee room buzzed with energy, and as I looked around, I came to realize that it was full of gunshot survivors who are fierce advocates of responsible gun ownership. Some of them had been trying to end gun violence for decades.
Those survivors include myself, a trauma surgeon. I was nearly killed after being shot in the throat at age 17 after a high-school football game. A stray bullet fired during a fight that had nothing to do with me ruptured my trachea and injured my carotid artery. Over the past decade, I have seen another vantage point of this uniquely American problem by treating hundreds of gunshot wound victims.
This is an opinion and analysis article, and the views expressed by the author or authors are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
Language: en |