Public health nurses have distributed trigger locks during home visits, and one city handed out free trigger locks and cable locks. One of the health systems is considering suing gun manufacturers to recover the costs of treating gunshot wounds, Heins says, pointing out that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota joined the state in its pioneering suit against the tobacco industry some years ago. At Children's Hospitals and Clinics in the Twin Cities, pediatricians ask about guns in the home when parents bring small children in for routine checkups, says Dr. Mary Braddock, Medical Director for Community Health and Preventive Medicine. For adolescent patients, the concern is suicide. It's helpful clinically for physicians and nurses to talk to families about risk.
People think guns offer protection.
They don't look at the unintended consequences. But in suicide attempts, and also in domestic violence, lethality increases when there's a gun around. Children's has taken the case to the general public, sponsoring a series of commercials on local television on the dangers guns pose to children. That press conference featured St. Paul's police chief and a local city councilman along with Dr. Braddock and the head of trauma at the local trauma center. Doctors and nurses can't always fix what gun owners failed to prevent.