Ever since I was a freshman in high school, I have wanted to be a nurse. Throughout school and college, I always heard the concerns from family and friends about the risks of working at a hospital. “How could you stomach such graphic scenes?” they’d ask. But it never pushed me away.
In all honesty, I had never been afraid of any of it. But that has changed recently. I didn’t consider that my coworkers and I would be seeing gunshot wounds so regularly, let alone gunshot wounds in children — which happens with disturbing regularity in Utah.
Growing up in Provo, I was surrounded by many young families living picturesque lives. For a long time, that’s been the story Utah has sold to the world — perfect lives framed by the beauty of our natural landscape. But that’s not true. Many of us live a different story, haunted by gun violence.
In my case, I have lost close friends to gun suicide because they gained easy access to a gun in a time of crisis. And they weren’t alone — in fact, Utah has the 12th-highest rate of gun suicide in the country, with another life ending thanks to a firearm every 25 hours.
After the 2018 shooting in Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Parkland, I joined Students Demand Action and started volunteering as a gun safety advocate between classes. After finishing nursing school, I joined Moms Demand Action and moved to Salt Lake City. In the last six years, I have seen the gun safety debate evolve in our state. Along the way, we have made some progress thanks to bipartisan support from lawmakers for suicide prevention measures.
But we are still falling short.
Last week, an 8-year-old boy died after unintentionally shooting himself outside a gas station in Lehi while his parents were inside. This shooting came just weeks after another 5-year-old boy in Santaquin unintentionally shot and killed himself after finding a handgun in his parents’ bedroom. As far as we know, these children weren’t suicidal — they were just curious. But they paid the ultimate price because their parents left guns accessible, loaded and unsecured.
These incidents are an issue we all need to worry about. Whether it’s your gun or not, it could be your child, your community or my next patient.
Since 2015, Everytown for Gun Safety tracked nearly 3,400 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in more than 1,300 people killed and more than 2,200 people wounded. Last year, our country had the highest number of unintentional shootings by children recorded since Everytown started tracking incidents in 2015. In Utah, we weren’t the exception, we saw over two dozen incidents during that same period, but over the past month we’ve already seen three.
It doesn’t have to be this way. An overwhelming majority of unintentional shootings by children could be prevented if the gun was stored securely. We must ensure guns are always inaccessible to kids. Storing guns unloaded and securely can save children’s lives and help prevent firearm theft.
As a nurse, I never thought I’d have to see so many gunshot victims in the emergency room. Regardless of how many victims my colleagues and I see, it will never feel normal — because it isn’t. These tragedies are completely preventable.
I’m convinced that if our leaders truly saw the devastation a bullet inflicts on the human body and the lasting scars it leaves on victims’ lives, our laws would reflect measures to prevent these tragedies.
Our laws won’t change overnight so, in the meantime, I ask parents and gun owners to keep guns stored securely. Guns should be stored unloaded; they should be locked with cable locks or in a locked box or firearm safe; and they must be kept separate from ammunition.
And, as we saw in Lehi, homes aren’t the only place that children can access unsecured guns. We must make sure firearms are locked securely and inaccessible in cars, as well.
I wouldn’t change being a nurse for anything. But nobody ever warned me of the impacts of a gunshot, so I am warning parents because I don’t wish anyone to experience that heartbreak.
(Jaden Christensen) Jaden Christensen is a native Utahn and the current chapter leader with Moms Demand Action in the state.
Jaden Christensen is a native Utahn and the current chapter leader with Moms Demand Action in the state. Since 2018, he has actively advocated for gun safety as a volunteer with Students Demand Action and Moms Demand Action. He works as a nurse in Salt Lake City.
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