Finding Common Ground to Reduce Gun Violence

There have been more than 300 mass shootings in the United States in 2025, including at Brown University, where two students were killed and nine others were injured, and  at a child’s birthday party in Stockton, Calif., where  four people, three of them children, were killed and 13 people were injured. Although mass shootings provide a spotlight for underlying cultural and mental health issues, they do not represent most issues surrounding gun violence, such as suicides, homicides, and accidental shootings. It goes without saying that gun violence is a major problem in the U.S., accounting for approximately 45,000 firearm-related deaths in 2023. It is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 17. Yet, discussing approaches to reducing gun violence often devolves into contentious disagreements.

We believe that ethical frameworks used in medical ethics could be helpful in finding a way forward. We spent our careers as ethics consultants in a VA medical ethics program. Some of our consults pertained to gun safety, such as when a patient had access to unsecured firearms at home and had either cognitive challenges or thoughts of self-harm.