Guns were made to kill. And now, we are learning that they are killing children with greater regularity. A recent New York Times article highlighted a study published last week, which found “firearm fatalities among children under 18 increased by 87 percent from 2011 through 2021 in the United States,” making firearm injuries “the leading cause of death among Americans under 20[.]” Even more disturbing is the lack of modifications to these weapons to include safety features such as trigger locks and fingerprint identification. The firearms industry has yet to take steps to make firearms safer.

In our representation of children throughout the country injured by mass shootings including at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and the Highland Park, Illinois Fourth of July parade, we know the devastating impact gun violence has on its young victims. Survivors face huge, never-ending medical bills and the mountainous burden of trauma and grief. Even more debilitating for victims is that the sense of security and safety is stripped from them, with impacts more pronounced with younger children. For a more thorough appreciation of the debilitating impact that shooting injuries have on its victims, I recommend you read an AP article titled, “The aftermath of mass shootings infiltrates every corner of survivors’ lives,” which highlights several firm clients and discusses their individual paths to recovery, including the roadblocks.

So, what’s the answer? For our firm, it’s not sitting on the sidelines complaining about the problem. We have and will continue to fight in and out of the courtroom for victims harmed by unthinkable acts of violence. We applaud our brave clients for speaking up against violence and the morally corrupt practices that gun manufacturers use in marketing assault weapons. We see civil litigation on behalf of victims as a critical tool to bring about change and save lives by making the sale of weapons of mass destruction to the public cost-prohibitive.