Abstract
The United States is experiencing one of the most unprecedented upticks in gun violence in our nation’s history. National statistics indicate that the number of mass murders committed by violent assailants possessing guns is rising at an alarming rate nationwide, placing the safety of American families at risk. Researchers at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention assert that the deregulation of gun control laws by conservative lawmakers represents a substantial threat to public safety that undermines basic security at the community level. A review of published data from the National Gun Violence Archive in 2021 reveals that twenty thousand murders and twenty-four thousand suicides in the U.S. are attributable to gun violence each year. This chapter will examine how social workers can provide clinical services that help survivors overcome the traumatic effects of gun violence and implement programs to prevent these tragedies from reoccurring in communities at risk.