National Gun Violence Awareness Month brings grim reality into focus

June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month, and the issue is possibly more relevant now than ever before. In 2020, firearms overtook car crashes as the leading cause of death in children and young adults.

As part of FOX 17’s A Path Forward Initiative, we spoke with Dr. Christopher Benner, a pediatric emergency medicine specialist at Corewell Health, about the reality of gun violence affecting kids.

Dr. Benner emphasized the devastating impact of gun violence on families and hospital systems.

“For kids, we probably see a few firearm injuries per month, and then, every once in a while, firearm deaths,” he explained Tuesday. “We see kind of the ripple effects of firearm injuries on a daily basis."

In 2020, 4,700 kids were killed by firearms in the U.S.

Homicide made up slightly more than half of those deaths, followed by suicide taking up less than 50%, and unintentional injuries filling out the rest of the incidents.

For medical professionals giving their all to save people’s lives, the uptick in violence can take a toll.

“It's hard to stay in the moment and treat the injuries and do what we can medically while you're dealing with your own personal emotions,” he said.

Dr. Benner says he often relays to families the importance of safely storing firearms.

In fact, Michigan law now requires firearms to be locked up when in the presence of kids.

To help, Corewell Health has recently distributed about 500 free gun locks to families across the states.

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