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Updated December 11th, 2020 at 06:25 IST

Gun Violence Prevention Forum Focuses on Inner Cities and Communities of Colour

“This is a public health emergency and it’s on us to keep the conversation going and work together to find solutions,” said Michael Dowling , Northwell’s president, and CEO.

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In response, Northwell Health hosted the second annual Gun Violence Prevention Forum , which joined leaders across health care and other fields to actively discuss how to address the bloodshed in these communities and gun violence as a public health issue. The conference highlighted the critical issues facing gun violence in the US, including public policy, advocacy and the role of government; corporate America and finding a middle ground; and health care partnerships that make a difference.

“This is a public health emergency and it’s on us to keep the conversation going and work together to find solutions,” said Michael Dowling , Northwell’s president and CEO. “Even amidst the pandemic, we should not step aside. We will succeed with COVID-19, but we have to make sure we deal with the other emergency – gun violence.”

Michael Bloomberg , founder of Bloomberg LP and Bloomberg Philanthropies, co-founder of Everytown for Gun Safety and Mayor of New York City (2002-2013) who cut crime by a third while reducing incarceration by nearly 40 percent, was among the guest speakers at the event, which was held virtually because of the pandemic.

“The pandemic is intensifying so many other long-standing persistent public health issues, including gun violence,” said Bloomberg. “We all have a responsibility to do even more. Because if we grow the gun sense movement to include even more allies we really can save a lot more lives in communities across America.”

Former US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords , the youngest woman ever elected to the Arizona State Senate who was the victim of gun violence when she was shot in the head during a mass shooting that killed six people and injured 12 others, spoke on a panel with Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) about gun ownership and the role of government to enact reasonable measures on gun control. “We are at a crossroads,” Giffords said. “We can let the shooting continue, or we can act. We can protect our families, our future. We can vote. We can be on the right side of history. Please be on the right side of history.”

Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy , who has fought for solutions to gun violence after 20 children and six educators were killed in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, said the problem is bigger than the astounding number of people killed every year.

“There are the family and friends who experience trauma after the death of a loved one,” said Murphy, adding that children exposed to gun violence “have levels of PTSD that are just as high as returning soldiers from Iraq or Afghanistan. These children can’t learn, they can’t cope. They lack resiliency skills because the circuitry of their brains have been changed by the constant exposure to fear of gun violence all the time.”

The event put a spotlight on rising gun violence in cities across the US. New York City, for example, is nearing a 14-year high in the number of shootings reported in the five boroughs. As of Monday, the city reported more than 1,700 gun violence victims – nearly double the number of victims reported at the same time last year. In July, nearly every person shot (about 100 total) had been a person of color.

(Image Credit: AP) 

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Published December 11th, 2020 at 06:25 IST

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