'Guns kill more children than cancer': Georgia lawmakers seek to enhance gun safety
ATLANTA, Ga. (WGXA/TND) — Doctors, activists and state lawmakers gathered at the Georgia state house Monday to call for reforms amid the rising tide of gun violence.
"Guns kill more children than cancer, more than covid-19, and more than car crashes. This is both an unacceptable and a preventable public health crisis for our state", said Dr. Sofia Chaudhary, a board-certified pediatric urgent care physician who spoke at the demonstration.
The rate of gun deaths increased by 33% between 2011 and 2020 – and jumped 39% between 2019 and 2020 alone – according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gun violence is indeed a public health crisis", said state Rep. Michelle Au, D-District 50, an anesthesiologist who holds a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University.
Representatives, physicians and others gathered at the state house made links between gun violence and mental health in order to try to get laws in place to help the problem.
In 2022 Georgia law makers passed the Mental Health Parity Act – which required health insurance plans to cover mental health conditions in the same way as physical ailments and cannot deny mental health care – but Dr. Au says it is not enough.
This legislature can pat itself on the back for passing a mental health bill," she said. "But, most Republicans refuse to acknowledge that the number one cause of gun fatality is suicide.
According to Every Stat, a record of gun violence statistics operated by the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, 57% of gun deaths are suicide and 40% are homicides in Georgia.
Between 2016-2020 the CDC, ranked Georgia with the 17th highest rate of gun deaths in the U.S.
State Sen. Elena Parent, D-District 42, pointed to a slate of gun safety legislation that Democrats are trying to pass as example of the "common sense" nature of their proposals.
Our highest priority are bills that would require safe storage of weapons around children ," she said. "And require that there be a process put into place for gun rights to be restored for individuals who have previously been adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others.
Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-District 137, says state Demcorats are hopeful that the house will pass their proposed bills.
"This bill has been before the house several years in a row. We are going to try it again and we hope that this time the motto of our state will prevail so that lives can be protected", she said.
WGXA reached out to Gov. Brian Kemp's office for a response, but he did not respond.
