I'm an ER doctor. Politicians can save more gunshot victims than I can.

The beeping of a heart monitor, the footsteps of nurses, the distant rumblings of an emergency resuscitation – the hospital can be a difficult place to get sleep. But for my patient admitted with pneumonia, the cacophony reminded him of bullets, and he woke up in a cold sweat. The patient had post-traumatic stress disorder from a mass shooting he witnessed years ago.

The effects of firearm massacres on the physical and emotional levels of all involved are long-lasting and significant, and the United States continues to be one of the few developed countries where gun violence regularly occurs.

It has been a month since 12 people were injured in a shooting near a popular neighborhood festival in Toledo, Ohio. Gun rights activists and many of our Republican lawmakers often say that it's "too soon" to talk about commonsense gun laws.

Well, we're in a relatively quiet period. Is it the right time now? Can we have that conversation before more lives are lost?

Lawmakers can save more lives than I can as a physician

As a physician, my first duty is to save lives, which is why I'm writing this. Firearms account for more than 40,000 American deaths per year. It is the leading cause of premature death in the United States.

In 2024, the surgeon general even declared gun violence a public health crisis (a fact that President Donald Trump's administration has tried to scrub from its websites).

With a stroke of a pen, signing laws, both our legislature and the president could save more lives than I ever could in my entire career. But our current Congress and president seem to have little appetite for this.

In 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which, among other interventions, clamped down on illegal gun trafficking.

But the Trump administration has already worked to reverse some of these gains, repealing the "zero tolerance" policy of clamping down on gun dealers selling illegal firearms and repurposing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This is the wrong direction. According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of July 3, the United States has had 207 mass shootings in 2026 alone. We need more enforcement, not less.

And I know the gun advocates will say that this is a mental health problem, not a gun problem. Certainly, both issues need to be addressed, but as the White House said recently in a different context, this administration can walk and chew gum at the same time.

Gun violence is personal to me, and so many of us

I know firsthand the effects of gun violence. I had close family present at the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting in which 60 people died. I know what it's like to receive those "I love you, take care of mom" texts. I would not wish that on anybody.

I also have my first child on the way, and like many parents, I worry about his future safety in this era of school shootings – 10 in just the past month.

Congress needs to stand up, continue to pass commonsense gun laws, and enforce those on the books. Even President Trump has, at times, endorsed stronger background checks and firearm limitations (before backing down to the NRA, showing just how weak that aging spine is).

We need to punish those who refuse to even engage in this conversation and vote them out. At more than 200 mass shootings thus far this year, we cannot wait. So, is it too soon to talk about gun control again? It's never too soon if we can save another life.

Dr. Thomas K. Lew is a clinical assistant professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and an attending physician of Hospital Medicine at Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley. All expressed opinions are his own. Follow him on X: @ThomasLewMD

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: I'm an ER doctor. Politicians can save more gunshot victims than I can.

Reporting by Dr. Thomas K. Lew, Opinion contributor / USA TODAY

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This story was originally published July 6, 2026 at 5:08 AM.