Gunshot Wounds

Globally, there are roughly 500,000 injuries that occur as a result of firearms. Of the 500,000 injuries, roughly 40% are due to non-conflict situations. This does not mean that 40% of the injuries are accidental; it merely means that they are not related to a defined armed conflict.

A gunshot wound, better known as ballistic trauma, is a form of physical trauma that occurs as a result of a discharge of arms or munitions. The most common form of ballistic trauma is from small arms fire, mainly from semi-automatic pistols, machine guns, submachine guns, and assault rifles.

Regardless of how the gunshot wound occurs, a physician treating a gunshot wound or other type of ballistic trauma should be most concerned with where the bullet strikes the body, whether an organ has been damaged, and whether or not the spinal cord has been harmed.

A bullet or other projectile can damage a vital organ either through directly passing through the organ or by spraying shrapnel into the organ.

The gunshot wounds and deaths that occur globally represent roughly a quarter of all of the deaths that occurred in 2001 as a result of violence. Of the gunshot wounds and deaths, roughly 42% of the injuries represented suicides or attempted suicides, 38% were homicides, and 26% of the gunshot wounds were related to war and other forms of armed conflict.

Contact a Harrisburg Personal Injury Attorney

If you have been the victim of a gun in any situation, contact the Harrisburg personal injury attorneys of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C. at 610-667-7511 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.