Addressing gun violence as a public health problem

In the aftermath of a shooting incident in a dental practice in 2016, DentistryIQ, an onlinedental information portal, asked its readers whether signage to prohibit carryingfirearms shouldbe prominently displayed in the dental practice setting.1Results from the survey showed thatmost respondents, including dentists, dental hygienists, and other team members of various agegroups, did not support the idea of posting such signs within their clinics. These results werecertainly not representative of all members of the oral health care team, and they were also out ofstep with results of surveys conducted among US adults, which showed that most support restrictingguns in public spaces.2Gun violence persists as a deeply polarizing public policy issue and the United States continues tograpple with daily reports of shooting incidents.3Active shooter drills have become a routinecomponent of school training for children andworkplace training for adults. For numerous familiesand communities, racialized gun violence is a realityof their lives. Although gun violence has beennormalized as a fact of life, it constitutes a gravepublic health issue.