With future of gun research in question, new report finds US emergency departments see a firearm injury every 30 minutes

When Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency medicine physician, thinks about her time working at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, one case always comes rushing back:

Two-year-old. Gunshot wound. Chest. ETA five minutes.

The child was rushed to the emergency department after being accidentally shot by an older sibling who was playing with a gun that was left unlocked in the house.

“I’ll never forget the … child on the stretcher and the blood-curdling screams of the parent outside the room, lying on the floor, distraught,” Johns said.

Every 30 minutes, an emergency department treats another firearm injury, according to a new analysis from researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that looked at 10 jurisdictions, including the District of Columbia.