Nursing Organizations Speak Out on Gun Violence

On September 3, the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) joined that chorus. “Whether it is gun violence on a neighborhood street or the senseless loss of innocent lives in a mass shooting,” said ENA President Patti Kunz Howard, RN, Ph.D., CEN, CPEN, TCRN, NE-BC, FAEN, FAAN, “we should all be able to agree that it is time to take the steps necessary to reduce the number of people being brought to an emergency department because of firearm-related injuries.”

Bipartisan Background Checks Act

Grant and Howard both called upon the Senate to pass H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, which passed the House 227–190 back in February. That bill would close a loophole in existing federal gun laws: Although licensed dealers are required to conduct background checks to determine if a prospective buyer is disqualified from gun purchases for reasons such as past criminal convictions or involuntary commitment, federal law doesn’t require such checks for private transfers.

A few states, including California, do require background checks for private transfers, but a purchaser can often avoid the requirement by purchasing a gun in another state. The shooter in another recent mass-casualty incident, in Odessa, Texas, reportedly exploited this loophole to purchase his weapon after failing a background check in 2014.

Photos above: Along with reforms to existing federal gun laws, AANP President Sophia L. Thomas (left), ANA President Ernest J. Grant (center), and ENA President Patti Kunz Howard (right) call for renewed federal research into gun violence, which has largely stalled since the mid-90s. Grant asked Congress to provide the CDC with $50 million to “conduct gun violence research to help identify and address the underlying issues that motivate acts of violence.”

In this Article: ANA, Public Health, Workplace Safety