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accessHealthNews.net
August 2025
Volume 11 | Issue No. 99
The sound of gunshots echoing through
a Kansas City neighborhood doesn't just
leave physical scars—it creates invisible
wounds that can last a lifetime. For
communities of color across Missouri and
Kansas, the intersection of gun violence
and post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) represents a public health crisis
that demands urgent attention and
comprehensive solutions.
Nature Mental Health research reveals
a sobering reality: between 58.6% and
94.4% of adults report mental health
consequences after exposure to gun
violence, with Black, Indigenous, and
people of color communities bearing
a disproportionate burden of both the
violence and its psychological aftermath.
In Missouri alone, 1,074 people die by
guns annually, giving the state the 8th-
highest gun death rate in the nation at
17.5 per 100,000 people. Kansas faces
its own challenges, with nearly 3/4 of
homicides committed with firearms in
2019, and young Black males aged 15-34
experiencing a firearm homicide rate 15
times higher than white males of the same
age group.
The Dual Crisis: Violence and Trauma
Intertwined
The relationship between PTSD and
gun violence in communities of color
is complex and cyclical. According to
recent research published in Nature
Mental Health, exposure to gun violence
can lead to major psychological distress,
including anxiety, depression, panic
attacks, and post-traumatic stress
symptoms.
READ MORE
"It's not just the physical trauma that is obviously debilitating,
there is scarring that is interior. You don't really see that."
- Cynthia Carlson,
Special Projects Coordinator at the
Kansas City Health Department
