Tennessee Doctors Issue Call for Gun Reform

Physicians respond to tragic shooting in Franklin

A group of Tennessee physicians affiliated with the health policy advocacy group Protect My Care is calling for changes to the state's gun policies following a tragic shooting in Franklin.

One day after graduating from high school, Lily Basil of Franklin was shot and killed by an 18-year-old holding an AR-15 that he believed was unloaded.

Dr. Vidya Bansal, a Nashville pediatrician, said, "As a pediatrician and a parent, this tragic loss of the life of a young person who had just celebrated her graduation, is unacceptable, The repeated failure of our elected leaders to act on even bare minimum legislation like red flag laws and background checks, will unfortunately lead to more senseless gun violence, which has become a nationwide public health epidemic."

Dr. Katrina Green, an emergency physician practicing in Nashville, said, "I am once again reminded that here in Tennessee, and indeed across much of the United States, children, families and communities are at risk of being injured or killed from gun violence. It is completely unacceptable that firearms are now the number one cause of death for children in the US."

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