A bus stop is just a bus stop until a classmate dies while standing there

Stoneleigh Fellow Jessica Beard was featured in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece after interviewing for a new documentary focused on young people and their experiences of gun violence.

I was 13 years old on a blazing hot summer day playing freeze tag with my cousins in front of my house in Kensington. My mom was sitting on a stoop nearby, talking to a neighbor, but still keeping a watchful eye on us. […]

As a student producer for this documentary, I interviewed Jessica Beard, a trauma surgeon at Temple University and the director of research at the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting. She shared research on gun violence and some evidence-based solutions.

“The things that seem to prevent firearm homicide are universal background checks and permits to purchase,” Beard told me. “Other policies that are effective to prevent unintentional injury and firearm suicide are child access prevention laws and extreme risk protection orders. I think one concern that people feel is that this is political. But the truth is that we have evidence that these things can save lives.”

View the Full Article