The Public Health Issue of Gun Violence WILLIAM V. BEGG III MD FACEP Vice Chair, Danbury Hospital Emergency Department EMS Medical Director, Danbury Hospital Immediate Past President of the Medical Staff, WCHN Friday, November 30 th 2018 1
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Objectives: Review how the public health issue of gun violence affects our communities. Apply the experiences from gun related mass tragedies to future disasters other communities will face. 3
I do not have any relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests. I am not an advocate of banning guns for law abiding citizens 4
I do have close relationships with those from Newtown affected by the Sandy Hook Tragedy, as I have lived in Newtown for 25 years and am the father of three children from the Newtown, Connecticut school district. 5
I was one the doctors overseeing care in the Danbury Hospital Emergency Department on the day of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Tragedy 6
In 2012, it was Newtown that faced an unspeakable human tragedy 7
Newtown experience represents the worst mass killing of school children this country has ever seen. 8
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Presentation dedicated to Grace McDonnell 11 11
Selected data in following slides highlighting how the United States culture separates us from the rest of the world Pistols for sale at Target Masters, an indoor shooting center, in Garland, Texas on March 3. Cooper Neill for The Washington Post via Getty Images 12 12
There have been more than 2,000 mass shootings since the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012 mg src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9371323/mass_shootings_map.png" alt=""> Soo Oh/Vox 13 13
On average, there is more than one mass shooting for each day in America cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9371333/mass_shooting_calendar.png" alt=""> Christopher Ingraham/Washington Post 14 14
Gun violence deaths in the US Almost 100 people die each day >34,000 people die each year 21,000 suicides 12,000 murdered 600 accidental 15 15
Non fatal gun violence 350,000 nonfatal violent crimes with guns 75,000 treated in ER s for non-fatal gunshot wounds. CDC 2012 Vyrostek 2004 16 16
U.S. Gun deaths vs Car deaths 17 17
Causes of Death in US per 100,000 Heart Disease Deaths 193 Cancer 186 Diabetes 22.4 Suicide 12.4 Liver disease/cirrhosis 10.3 Firearms 10.2 Hypertension 8.6 Firearm Suicide 6.3 18 18
US Gun Death rates vs World
America has 4.4 percent of the world s population, but almost half of the civilian-owned guns around the world img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9371303/guns_per_capita.jpg" alt=""> Javier Zarracina/Vox 20 20
America has six times as many firearm homicides as Canada, and nearly 16 times as many as Germany img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9371299/gun_homicides_per_capita.jpg" alt=""> Javier Zarracina/Vox 21 21
States with more guns have more gun deaths Data from a study in Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9371353/gun_ownership_states.png" alt=""> Mother Jones 22 22
Pediatric Gun Deaths 25% of California adults live in households with firearms 40% of these households with firearms include children age under 13 2018 California Safety and Wellbeing study 23 23
Pediatric Gun Deaths Children are 11 times more likely to be killed by accidental discharge of a firearm than their peers in other high income countries. 24 24
Cost of gun violence Billions dollars annually to the US criminal justice system Gun violence related costs equal to expenses for all other crimes put together. 25 25
Cost of gun violence Total costs to U.S. is estimated to be over $250,000,000 Each Hospitalization for gun shot victims costs over $500,000 per patient Average annual cost of violent crime was estimated at more than $2500 per US citizen. Cook PJ, Ludwig J. Gun Violence: The Real Costs. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Shapiro RJ, Hassett KA. The Economic Benefits of Reducing Violent Crime: A Case Study of 8 American Cities. Center for American Progress, Washington, DC, June 2012. 26 26
Independent Lens We Are All Newtown Part 2 PBS https://youtu.be/4_i3pn881ni 27 27