Gun violence and children; gun shops and suicide prevention

Guests: Ruth Abaya, Scott Charles, Ralph Demicco, Marty Vriniotis

The statistics around guns and children are startling according to a recent report.  Every year 1300 children are killed by someone with a firearm and 5790 children are injured. They disproportionately affect boys and minorities. And while African American children are more likely to be victims of homicide, white and American Indian kids are at greater risk of suicide by firearms.  We start this hour looking at the toll guns take on young lives and how to prevent it.  Marty talks with RUTH ABAYA, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and SCOTT CHARLES, Temple University Hospital’s trauma outreach coordinator.  Then we look at a public health campaign that’s enlisting gun shop owners in suicide prevention.  Our guests are RALPH DEMICCO, a former gun shop owner and co-director of the New Hampshire Firearm Safety Coalition, and MARY VRINIOTIS, research specialist with Harvard Injury Control Research Center’s Means Matter Campaign