The Relentless School Nurse: Under the Gun – Healing America’s Gun Violence Crisis

Dr. Cedric Dark’s book Under the Gun: An ER Doctor’s Cure for America’s Gun Epidemic, offers a unique and powerful examination of gun violence in America. Along with co-author, Dr. Seema Yasmin, “Under the Gun,” blends professional expertise, personal experience, policy analysis, and an urgent call to action that gun violence is a public health crisis. 

As a board-certified emergency physician working in a Houston trauma center, Dr. Dark brings firsthand experience of treating gunshot victims to his writing. His perspective is further informed by personal tragedy; Dark’s cousin was murdered when he was a teenager. This loss profoundly affected his family, with relatives bottling up their pain, further deepening the generational trauma.

Dr. Dark balances his right to own firearms, both a 12-gauge shotgun and a .40-caliber pistol, and robustly advocates for the personal responsibility gun ownership demands. This nuanced approach allows him to balance respect for responsible gun ownership with a strong push for policy changes to reduce gun violence. Dark views violence as a disease and gun violence as a public health crisis, advocating for practical, incremental policies aimed at harm reduction.

In addressing the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) arguments, Dark challenges their stance that gun violence is not a public health issue and criticizes their role in obstructing research and meaningful regulation. He proposes evidence-based policies such as strong laws to prevent child access to guns, brief waiting periods, extended background checks, and keeping guns away from individuals under domestic violence restraining orders.

Dark’s approach, which he describes as being “anti-bullet hole” rather than “anti-gun,” aims to shift the conversation from a polarizing pro-gun vs. anti-gun debate to one focused on “evidence-informed policymaking.” By combining medical expertise, personal experience, and policy analysis, “Under the Gun” presents a balanced and pragmatic approach to addressing America’s gun violence epidemic while respecting Second Amendment rights.

Author bios:

Seema Yasmin, MD, MPH is an Emmy award-winning journalist, public health physician, and Stanford Health Communication Initiative director. She is the author of Viral BS: Medical Myths and Why We Fall for Them. Her website is seemayasmin.com.