At the age of 9, I was herded out into the middle of an open field with the rest of my elementary school while the teachers frantically whispered to each other over our heads, “How many children have died? Do they know who the shooters are?”
My elementary school was four miles away from Columbine High School and on April 20, 1999, I experienced my first school shooting. Now, 19 years later, I sit in my clinic typing this letter as news updates scroll across my phone about the most recent school shooting in Maryland, and I am disgusted to say how commonplace the words “school shooting” have become.
We are pediatricians, and our heart breaks for every child who will grow up in a society where mass shootings have become all too familiar. As pediatricians, we believe there are major steps that our entire community can make to reduce the incidence of firearm-related violence.
This includes implementing bans on the sale of high-capacity ammunition magazines to the general public, and implementation of a mandatory waiting period before receiving purchased firearms.
We are asking that everybody in our community take action. Call your legislator and help protect our children. Let’s make school a safe place again.
Tiffany Pointon, MD and Kelly Miller, MD
Denver
