AUSTIN, Texas — The increase of gun violence nationwide has caught the attention of medical experts.

For the first time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is dedicating funds to researchers investigating gun violence as a health epidemic.


What You Need To Know

  • Dell Seton Medical Center reports a 72% increase in serious gunshot wounds since 2020

  • 2020 report shows gun violence is leading cause of death in children and teens

  •  Texas doctor one of CDC grant recipient to study epidemiology of firearm injuries

  • CDC adds additional dollars to fund the study of causes of gun violence and effectiveness of prevention efforts/li>

Gun violence is normally analyzed through a crime lens rather than as a health issue, so trauma doctors and families impacted by it hope this new research will shed light on what is causing gun violence and how to prevent it.

Austin mother Leesa Ross’ son died from a gunshot wound. She visits Riverbend Remembrance Gardens every October to put pumpkins on her son’s gravestone.

“It was his favorite holiday,” she said. “He loved Halloween. He loved the costumes.”

Jonathon Ross was at a party when someone handed him a gun. It went off in his hand and killed him. He was 23 years old.

“I miss most, just having conversations, being able to hug him,” Ross said. “I don’t get those things anymore.”

For a long time, Ross says she wanted to destroy all guns, but then she found a middle ground: gun safety.

Her organization, Lock Arms for Life, is partnering with Austin Public Health to reduce gun tragedies like Ross’ son.

“The best thing I can do for my community and for my gun owners is just to make sure that every gun is stored safely,” Ross said. “Had that gun been stored safely that night with my son, he would be alive today.”

Gun violence has been steadily increasing in Texas for more than a decade, but those numbers significantly increased in 2020 and 2021, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Crime data also shows gun deaths account for about 76% of all homicides; however, suicides make up the majority of gun deaths in the U.S. CDC reports from 2020 shows gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens.

Trauma surgeons like Tatiana Cardenas are treating more and more gun injuries. She works at Dell Seton Medical Center where they’ve seen a 72% increase in serious gunshot wounds since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I don’t think seeing this gets any easier no matter how many cases or how many times you’ve seen it,” Cardenas said.

Cardenas says the impacts of gun violence go far beyond individuals, which is why she supports the CDC’s research to understand gun violence and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent firearm deaths and injuries.

“I think looking at it is extremely important because it does affect the health of my community,” she said.

Ross says gun safety programs like hers have already proven successful in saving lives.

The Children’s Defense Fund reports almost half of gun-owning households with minors do not store their firearms safely.

Data from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital says 75% of children who live in homes with guns know where they are stored.

For Ross, even one less mother grieving a child means she is doing the right thing. She says she finds peace in knowing her son’s memory is saving others.

“I just want to make him proud, it’s all I can say, and I hope that I’m accomplishing that for him,” she said.

One of the recipients of the CDC’s grant is Texas Children’s Hospital Doctor Bindi Naik-Mathuria.

She received funds to research the epidemiology of firearm injuries in Houston county.

Her staff declined our request for an interview.