Empowering Families: Gun Safety

On Jan. 23, Dan Guzman, M.D., a pediatric emergency medicine physician and Medical Director of the Aim For Safety Program, spoke to ten people about a public health crisis that he sees far too often as a physician in the Emergency Department.

The event, hosted by Cook Children's Aim for Safety® initiative at William James Middle School, provided education and tools about gun safety. The Aim for Safety Initiative is designed to reduce the number of children who are victims of gun-related injury or death through education.

The Initiative is a passion of Dr. Guzman’s because he has seen so many firearm injuries and deaths firsthand.

“I work in the ER and see these (firearm) injuries that come through the hospital. I have taken care of multiple kids who have died, unfortunately, in front of me,” Dr. Guzman said. “And that’s what drives me; I don't want to watch another child die as a result of a firearm.”

Many injuries and deaths are unintentional and due to a firearm not being safely locked away. A main component of Dr. Guzman’s presentation is how to properly store a firearm to keep it out of children's hands.

Dr. Guzman said that Cook Children’s has a responsibility to be at the forefront of this gun safety conversation. As witnesses to the damage and tragedy that can unfold when a gun isn’t stored properly, physicians and providers must mobilize the conversation.

That conversation extends beyond families who own a gun. Even if a family does not have a firearm in their house, parents and guardians should make sure children know what to do if they find a gun outside of the home. For example, he said, to make sure kids know not to touch the firearm and to tell an adult about it.

Dr. Guzman emphasized that the initiative is not advocating for or against gun ownership; the focus is on providing people with the tools and resources to be safe around guns.

“Guns aren’t going to go away, so we have to educate our families and our kids on how to respond and react when they are around guns,” he said.

Star Enriquez attended the event and plans to talk to her kids about what she learned.

“I have two teenagers; they are growing up and are curious about everything. I am planning to get a gun, but I was not ready to because I was afraid,” Enriquez said. “But now with this class, it means a lot because now I have all the information I need.”

Enriquez said she plans to tell her children that the gun is for “mom and dad to use in case of an emergency.” She also intends to buy a lockbox with a safety code and fingerprint, as Guzman advised. Kids are naturally curious, she said, and she wants to make sure she communicates with them as openly as possible to keep them safe.

“I feel much better now that I got more information about it,” she said.

This was the group’s first event speaking to a large group and doing a presentation at a school. The school setting was especially important because the Fort Worth school district has seen its own tragedies because of gun violence. Damariion Henton, who was a student at Polytechnic High School, died in November 2024 after another teenager accidentally shot him.

From 2020 to 2023, Cook Children’s Health Care System in Fort Worth saw 208 gun-related injuries, 17 fatal and 191 non-fatal. Most of these injuries happened at home and were an accident. Most non-fatal injuries were caused by air-powered guns (BB guns, airsoft guns, paintball guns, etc.) while most severe or fatal injuries were caused by handguns.