Position Statement

Gun Violence

The intent of this position statement is to describe the impact of gun violence on society and to declare nurses’ role as advocates to minimize the adverse effects.

Position

It is the position of the New York State Nurses Association that:

• Violence or the threat of violence must not be tolerated under any circumstances.
• Registered professional nurses need to: increase their understanding of the issue of violence; develop skills to prevent, de-escalate, and intervene when necessary; and report all, and contribute to the analysis of, violent events.
• Registered professional nurses can play a critical role by educating the public and influencing policy about responsibilities associated with gun ownership and potential detrimental effects on society when guns are used irresponsibly.

Background

Gun violence affects all New Yorkers, regardless of age, gender, race and geographical location; minorities and children are particularly vulnerable. It plays a significant role in many cases of domestic violence:

In the early 1990s gun violence reached unprecedented levels. In 1993, the number of Americans injured by firearms peaked with 39,595 deaths and another 104,390 non-fatal injuries (Longjohn, 2004). In 2000, the most recent year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published statistics, 22,663 people died from gunshot wounds, and US hospitals treated more than 55,000 non-fatal firearm injuries, up from 39,400 in 1997 (USHHS, 2000). In addition to the enormous human toll of gun violence, the cost of treating these injuries poses a financial burden on society. One study suggests that lifetime costs of treating all US gunshot injuries in 1994 were $2.3 billion. Of these costs, $1.1 billion was paid by the government, with nearly half the costs being borne by taxpayers (Cook et al.,1999). Yet as early as 1985, organized medicine and allied health agencies began to treat violence as a public health problem and this included a focus on gun violence.

Recommendations

The New York State Nurses Association recommends:

1. Establishing policies and security practices that would prohibit carrying loaded guns into healthcare facilities and schools,
2. Evaluating staffing patterns, with the intent of reducing the potential incidence of conflict and subsequent violence.
3. Supporting education programs designed to educate nurses and the public in how to avoid/prevent dangerous situations and ways to control volatile situations to diminish the chance of escalating violence.
4. Expanding licensure to encompass all gun owners, and requiring that all applicants must as a condition of licensure:
   • present proof of residency
   • undergo both fingerprint and name-based background checks
   • complete a safety instruction course and prove competency
   • present proof of liability insurance coverage.
5. Enacting restrictions on the ownership of assault weapons at the state level to enable the prosecution of weapons charges by the state.
6. Encouraging ANA to support:
   • Federal legislation that would require a national system for gun licensing and registration.
   • Federal legislation that would deny federal firearms dealers licenses to applicants who have not first received relevant state and local permission to deal in firearms.
   • Establishment of a federal agency to regulate product safety, as well as a federal firearms regulatory agency to review national gun laws, help develop and implement uniform state programs and create and maintain a comprehensive database on gun violence.
7. Increasing fines for those who violate gun control provisions and criminal penalties for gun traffickers and armed felons.
8. Encouraging the media to reduce the amount of violence on television and in the movies.
9. Supporting the establishment of gun amnesty programs to encourage the voluntary relinquishment of guns, especially those programs resulting in the guns’ destruction.

Approved by the NYSNA Board of Directors on September 14, 2000; reviewed and revised by the Expanded Council on Nursing Practice on July 22, 2005; approved by the NYSNA Board of Directors on August 30, 2005.

References

Cook, P. J., Lawrence, B. A., Ludwig, J., & Miller, T. R. (1999). The medical costs of gunshot injuries in the United States. Journal of the American Medical Association, 282, 447-454.

Longjohn, M., & Christoffel, K. K. (2004). Are medical societies developing a standard for gun injury prevention? Injury Prevention, 10, 169-173.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (1998, Spring). Facts – firearm injuries and fatalities. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy people 2010: Understanding and improving health (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

For more information on nursing practice, contact NYSNA's Education, Practice and Research Program at 518.782.9400, ext. 282 or by e-mail.

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