Does it seem like you are hearing about a new shooting investigation every time you turn on the news? Unfortunately, gun violence is becoming all too common in the United States. Harborview Medical Center, the only Level I trauma center for Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, saw 34 people this May injured from firearm injuries. From June 124, they had already seen 46 cases. Nationally, the U.S. surgeon general also recently declared gun violence a public health crisis.

“Community violence intervention is one of the most important approaches or strategies for reducing violence, including gun violence that is being implemented across the country, ” says Ali RowhaniRahbar, director of the Firearm Injury & Policy Research Program at UW Medicine in Seattle.