I am a hospitalist pediatrician who cared for children in Bethel for more than 25 years. I lived in fear of a mass shooting, as it would undoubtedly exceed our limited capabilities. In 1997, there was a school shooting in Bethel. Our high school principal and my son’s 15-year-old friend were killed. With word of a shooting at the high school, my physician husband and the ER staff prepared for the possibility of multiple casualties. The principal died in our ER. The young man survived long enough to be transported to Anchorage by medevac, but died later that night after several hours of surgery.
The impact on our community was devastating. The shooting occurred while there was a national assault weapon ban in place. Our shooter did not have access to an assault weapon, which would have created more casualties and overwhelmed our rural hospital.
Mass shootings have doubled in the past 10 years. The leading cause of death of children and adolescents in our country is firearms. Every week there are nearly 13 mass shootings; every day, about 49 people die due to gun violence. There have been more than 600 mass — four or more victims — shootings this year alone. The numbers of children killed in these shootings is appalling. Gun violence has reached epidemic proportions. Assault weapons are increasingly the weapon of choice for mass shooters. They are weapons of war designed to efficiently kill people. Many of the children and teenagers killed in recent mass shootings had injuries, so severe that they were unrecognizable. DNA was required for identification.
Assault weapon injuries and gun violence are now a public health crisis. We have an opportunity to ban sales of assault weapons and keep military-style weapons off our streets. HR 1808, a federal assault weapon ban, passed in the House earlier this year and is now poised for a Senate vote as S.736. This ban is an updated version of the assault weapon ban that was in effect from 1994 to 2004. One study demonstrated a 70% decrease in mass shooting deaths during the time that the ban was in effect. This bill will ban the production and sale of new assault weapons. Existing weapons will be exempt.
Stopping future sales of assault weapons will save lives. In a number of mass shootings, the shooter was able to easily purchase and promptly use an assault weapon to massacre innocent people. Assault weapons are weapons of war. Their primary purpose is to kill people, as many as possible, as quickly as possible.
Physicians, lay people and politicians across the country have come together to support the assault weapon ban. We need to act fast to get this passed before the end of the year when the current session of congress ends. Call Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan now. Let them know you support the assault weapon ban and that you want them to support it and vote yes.
— Jane McClure
Anchorage
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