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1/ It's hard to write about this because it's so sad, but it's important - some days working on #GunViolence prevention by myself in my closet feels weirdly irrelevant while a pandemic rages outside. #COVID19 is a public health crisis, I'm a physician, and I want to be useful.
2/ I recently got a horrible reminder of why this work matters so much right now:
A 6th-grader in a nearby school district, home for Zoom school while the parents were at work, found his dad's gun and fatally shot himself.
A 6th-grader in a nearby school district, home for Zoom school while the parents were at work, found his dad's gun and fatally shot himself.
3/ It was a tragic example of how the #COVID19 pandemic hasn't replaced the gun violence epidemic....in many ways, it’s setting the stage for it.
It’s a unique confluence of risk factors, and access to a gun can mean the difference between life and death.
It’s a unique confluence of risk factors, and access to a gun can mean the difference between life and death.
4/ Gun sales are up across the nation - many of them by first-time buyers, and most of them who want a gun for protection. These two groups are less likely to store their guns safely, according to research.
In California, 1 in 5 children or teens lives in a house with a gun.
In California, 1 in 5 children or teens lives in a house with a gun.
5/ And with school, sports, and social events cancelled, many young adults are struggling with increased levels of anxiety and depression.
1 in 4 of them reported they had seriously considered suicide last summer, a big bump from previous years.
1 in 4 of them reported they had seriously considered suicide last summer, a big bump from previous years.
6/ Unintentional firearm injury is also a danger for younger children. In one survey, 40% of parents who thought their kids didn't know where they kept the guns in the house were wrong – the kids knew, and many had even handled the gun.
7/ This boy was undoubtedly one of thousands kids across the country now at home unsupervised when he would normally be in school, and whose parents have no daycare options, need to work, and own a gun.
8/ One modeling study estimated that if just 20% of households locked up all household firearms, then youth firearm deaths (mostly suicides) would decline by up to 32%. That's a lot of kids’ lives.
9/ I’m hopeful that we're turning a corner with the pandemic, and that kids will be safer at home + at school next year. And I’m grateful for the chance to do this work, and for all the other rock stars out there working on it with me!
Lots more info at http://bulletpointsproject.org
Lots more info at http://bulletpointsproject.org