Local View: Duluth-area doctors support evidence-based firearm safety – Duluth News Tribune

As physicians serving Minnesota families in the area surrounding Duluth, we see the impact of gun violence not as an abstract policy debate but as a reality that plays out in our emergency rooms and clinics — and in our communities.

Every week, we treat young people injured by firearms, injuries that are, tragically, often preventable. Minnesota lost 573 lives to firearms in 2022, according to the Minnesota Department of Health, and the toll extends far beyond statistics: Each number represents a family forever changed.

The leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the U.S. is firearms. This is a public health emergency.

We need action by our state lawmakers now, before even more children’s lives are needlessly lost. In November 2024, our community lost two children in a mass shooting in West Duluth, Jacob Nephew and Oliver Nephew, along with their mothers and father.

Statewide organizations that represent doctors — including the Minnesota Medical Association and Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics — recently called on lawmakers to reconvene in St. Paul to pass a ban on assault weapons, limits on high-capacity magazines, and safe-storage requirements.

We urge our area’s representatives in St. Paul — Sen. Jen McEwen, Sen. Grant Hauschild, Rep. Pete Johnson, Rep. Liish Kozlowski, Rep. Roger Skraba, and Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar — to publicly support evidence-based firearm safety policies.

The research is clear that these policies save lives — especially the lives of our youngest Minnesotans. Studies from the Journal of the American Medical Association have found states with bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines have fewer mass-shooting fatalities than states without such laws. These assault weapons — which are semi-automatic, military-style firearms — are designed for rapid fire and mass-casualty events. They have no place in the hands of civilians. Enacting a statewide ban would help protect our communities from the uniquely devastating harms these weapons inflict.

Equally crucial are safe-storage requirements. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both recommend that firearms be stored locked and unloaded, with ammunition kept separately. This simple practice could reduce the risk of unintentional shootings and suicides among children and adolescents by up to 85%. In states with safe-storage laws, unintentional firearm deaths among children declined by over 20%. These are lives we can save with straightforward, common-sense legislation.

We hope to see Minnesota lawmakers pass comprehensive firearm safety policies, including an assault-weapons ban, limits on high-capacity magazines, and robust safe-storage requirements.

From our view on the frontlines, the time to take action is now.

Catherine P. Benziger and Marit E. Knutson are medical doctors in Duluth. They wrote this and before submitting it to the News Tribune received more than 125 signatures of support for it from fellow doctors and one nurse practitioner serving Duluth and Northeastern Minnesota. The other signers were Drs. Katelyn Adams, Javariah Asghar, Susan Ash, Johan C. Bakken, Michael Barthman, Rebekah Beach, Katherine Beresford, Mary Bianco, Kirsten Bich, Kimberly Boddicker, Mary J. Boylan, Jennifer Boyle, Kathleen C. Braddy, Brianne Brandt-Griffith, Patty Bugliosi, Chris Bunch, Brian Capps, Donna Ceglar, Hena Cheema, Jenna Clappier, Jesse Coenen, Jamie Conniff, Megan Coylewright, Mary Daisy Braaten, Mary Daley, Brandon Drazich, Teja Dyamenahalli, Teresa Easwaran, Mara Edison, Joel Edwall, Matthew Eidenschink, Brent Ekstrom, Erik Engelsgjerd, Jeffrey S. Engelsgjerd, Joshua Engelsgjerd, Danika Evans, Christina Falgier, Allison Fisher, Carolyn Forsman, Dean Fox, Tammy Fox, Sarah Frenning, Lauren Giammar, Elisabeth Gibbons, Susan Goltz, Dalton Grimm, Nicole Groeschl, Ryan T. Groeschl, Rebecca Hartman, Gordon Harvieux, Annie Heermans, Jerrod Heermans, A.J. Hegg, Danielle Henkel, Kristin Heslep, Gabrielle Hester, Nathan Hoffmann, Trina Hollatz, Lynn Howard, Samantha Hudrlik, Patrick J. Hughes II, Kirsten Indrelie, Dane M. Ingebrigtson, Elizabeth Johnson, Phelps Johnson, Gretchen Karstens, Andrew Keenan, Dianne M. Kendall, Jonathan KenKnight, Krisa Keute, Asma Khan, Justin Kirkham, Karin Knutson, Bryan Koenig, Andrea Kramer, Nathan M. Kunzler, Mindi Kvaal Anderson, Christopher Latanich, Romy Lawrence, Graham Lohrmann, Abby Lombardi, Karen Lushine, Kristin Lusian Saline, Claire Mallof, Benjamin Marsh, Kathryn McLellan, Jennifer Merlis, Haley Meyer, Imtiaz Mohamed, Rachel Nelson, Josie O’Gara, Julie Ottosen, Nathan Palmolea, Christopher Peters, Kristin Pokorney Colling, Brandy Pownell, Julie A. Reichhoff, Elisabeth Revoir, Shane Richardson, Anne L. Riddle, Erinn Riley, Melanie Ripley, Lisa Roazen, Amery Robinson, Carrie Ronstrom, Missy Rosas, Jane Rudd, Brian Ruggle, Deborah Sah, Jessica Sawyer, Matt Schiller, Betsy J. Schwartz, Mark F. Scott, Nyasha Spears, Mollie Stapleton Clark, Andrew Thompson, Carley J. Udland, Sharnell Valentine, Aimee Van Straaten, Gunther Wagoner, Krista Warren, Andrea Watson, Anne Whitworth, Jessica Wilcken, Jennifer Witt, and nurse practitioner Kristen Anderson.

Dr. Catherine Benziger

Contributed/Dr. Catherine Benziger

Dr. Marit Knutson

Contributed/Dr. Marit Knutson

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