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	Podcast:		Humankind on Public Radio
	Episode:		Epidemic of Gun Violence
	Category:		Society & Culture
	Duration:		00:30:19
	Publish Date:		2021-08-05 07:01:23
	Description:		The problem of American gun violence has been mired for decades in a bitter political stalemate. For some, it’s a solemn constitutional question. Or it’s about the influence of gun manufacturers and their powerful lobby. Or it’s about lifestyle in communities with a tradition of hunting. Or it may be just about the primal need to feel safe. This program attempts to look past that impasse and to focus instead on a new framework for understanding this perplexing issue: public health. We visit the emergency room of Boston Medical Center, a large urban hospital. Two veteran physicians tell us the complex and elaborate medical response that is triggered when a patient arrives with a gunshot wound. We also consider a public health aspect of gun violence that is rarely talked about: most gunshot wounds in the U.S. are self-inflicted. Someone takes their own life about every twelve minutes in the U.S. and in most cases, suicide is at the point of a gun.
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