Let's Stop Using Band-Aids for Bullet Wounds

Karen Crawford Simms, a therapist and longtime social justice worker, critiqued simplified public responses to community gun violence (more mentors, more police, more jobs) and argued for addressing adverse community environments, historical trauma, racism and toxic stress, with decision-making power held by the communities most affected. She played an Indianapolis television news segment on teen shootings, then took audience questions on mentorship, the limits of the ACEs framework, and restorative justice hubs.