Study epidemic of gun violence as a disease

The United States continues to endure a public health epidemic of firearm-assisted injury and death.

In 2018, nearly 40,000 people were shot to death in the U.S. This last Fourth of July weekend, 87 people were shot and 17 died in Chicago.

The gun violence epidemic is multifactorial: guns are too easy to obtain regardless of the operator's background; common sense background checks on purchases are opposed by the NRA; and inner city gang warfare, rooted in systemic poverty and generational lack of opportunity, has become an urban way of life.

While gun regulation is debated, tens of thousands of Americans continue to die annually.

We must study the epidemiology of firearm morbidity and mortality as we do other public health issues - as we have approached the coronavirus epidemic.

We must develop evidence-based strategies for curbing the slaughter, working within the constraints of the Second Amendment.

We all want our families to be safe and live in a country where they do not have to fear a crazed shooter with a self-destructive agenda. We all want to minimize avoidable accidental firearm injuries. We all want our children to be safe in our neighborhoods - in every neighborhood.

The automobile industry, collaborating with the government, has utilized safety research to make cars and roads much safer. Anti-lock brakes, seat belts, and crumple technology save lives every day. Cars are registered and tracked with vehicle identification numbers. Operators are licensed with mandatory periodic training. Those that drive impaired or with health issues are denied driving privileges.

The firearm industry must collaborate with the government to adopt a similar approach. Congress must foster this partnership - not obstruct it by blocking firearm safety research.

We must fund the scientific and epidemiological research to make firearms and their use as safe as possible. We need best practice policies to keep firearms from the mentally challenged and promote responsible ownership. We must confront the diseases of systemic racism and generational poverty that foster urban gun violence.

The United States leads the world in firearm-related homicides and suicides; we must insist our elected officials partner with researchers, gun enthusiasts and the National Rifle Association to make the gun manufacturers more accountable. The "all hands on deck" multifaceted response to the coronavirus, provides an excellent template for reducing firearm-related injuries and deaths; to rid our cities of generational poverty and gang warfare. Nationally we must battle the nation's gun violence epidemic as we did the coronavirus pandemic. This will not be a quick fix, but enough is enough.

Charles Nozicka

Libertyville