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