WRAL Documentary: UnSafe: North Carolina kids dying from gun violence

WRAL News noted in a March 2024 story that, More children die of gun violence each year in the United States than from cancer; more die from gun violence than in car crashes.

In North Carolina, the problem is worse: Children are 51% more likely to die from guns compared with the national average, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

What can be done? The argument over guns can be so loud, it drowns out conversation that can yield meaningful change, health professionals and firearm policy experts say.

“I just wish we could take politics out of it,” says Dr. Jeffrey Swanson. He’s a Duke University professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences studying the interventions, policies and laws that can reduce firearm-related violence and suicide.

It can seem like an intractable political problem, but there is a simple solution – one that families, gun owners and lawmakers of both parties can agree on.

“I do not want to take people’s guns away. I want them to keep the guns that they have more safely secured,” says pediatrician Brian H. Eichner.

Read the full WRAL story and/or watch the documentary HERE.

Caswell County Sheriff’s Office and the Caswell County Health Department often have free trigger locks available.