In 2017, nearly 40,000 people died from gun violence in the U.S. according to the CDC.

Aswad Thomas is a survivor. A victim of a Hartford shooting outside a convenience store in 2009. He is also one of the people featured in the documentary The Sweetest Land, which looks at the epidemic of gun violence in the city of Hartford.

This hour, Thomas joins us along with the documentary’s director. What steps can local policymakers and public health take to effectively address gun violence? We take a closer look and we want to hear from you.

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GUESTS:

• Jeff Teitler – Director of The Sweetest Land and Professor of Communication at Central Connecticut State University
• Aswad Thomas – Survivor of a Hartford shooting in 2009; Managing Director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, a national network that aims to bring crime survivors into policy conversations about crime and justice (@Aswad_T)
• Dr. David Shapiro – Trauma surgeon at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center
• Linda Degutis – Former Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the CDC; currently an adjunct professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University
• Luke Bronin – Mayor of Hartford, Connecticut (@MayorBronin)

Chion Wolf contributed to this show.