Guns marketed for personal safety fuel public health crisis in Black communities

"Leon Harris, 35, is intimately familiar with the devastation guns can inflict. Robbers shot him in the back nearly two decades ago, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down. The bullet remains lodged in his spine. When you get shot, he said, you stop thinking about the future. He is anchored by his wife and child and faith. He once wanted to work as a forklift driver but has built a stable career in information technology."

"Still, trauma remains lodged in his daily life. As gun violence surged in the shadows of the COVID pandemic, it shook Harris' fragile sense of security. He moved his family out of Philadelphia to a leafy suburb in Delaware. But a nagging fear of crime persists. Now he is thinking about buying a gun. Harris is one of tens of thousands of Americans killed or injured each year by gun violence,"

"a public health crisis that escalated in the pandemic and churns a new victim into a hospital emergency room every half hour. Over the past two decades, the firearm industry has ramped up production and stepped up sales campaigns through social media influencers, conference presentations, and promotions. An industry trade group acknowledged that its traditional customer was pale, male and stale and in recent years began targeting Black people and other communities of color who are disproportionately victimized by gun violence."

Leon Harris, shot nearly two decades ago and paralyzed, continues to live with daily trauma and fear despite rebuilding a family and career. He moved his family out of Philadelphia after a pandemic-year surge that included over 2,300 shootings locally. Gun violence surged nationally during the COVID pandemic, producing tens of thousands of killed or injured people and a new victim entering an emergency room about every half hour. Firearm manufacturers increased production and expanded marketing through social media influencers, conferences, and promotions. An industry trade group admitted it began targeting Black people and other communities of color. Federal oversight of gun businesses has been reduced.

Read at kffhealthnews.org