When Joseph Sakran was 17 years old he was shot in the throat at a high school football match in the United States.

The 38-calibre bullet severed an artery in his neck, an injury that is often fatal, but he was saved at the hands of a surgeon.

That moment changed his life.

He became a trauma surgeon, got a background in the public health system and studied public policy at the Harvard John F Kennedy School of Government, all with the hope of making a difference in the issue of gun violence in America.

Now he is working at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he treats gunshot wounds every day.

Not unexpectedly, Dr Sakran is passionate about gun control and has become an advocate for Hillary Clinton's tilt at the White House.

"It's such a divisive issue in America," he told 7.30.

"We really struggle at being able to come to the table and discuss in a very logical, unemotional manner, some very sound principles that will allow us to protect the American population.

"I think that there is a lot more commonality than dissimilarity, but the problem is that there's so much partisan politics that we are never able to get to the table to really implement sound public policy."

The trauma surgeon is hopeful ahead of tomorrow's statement on gun violence by US President Barack Obama.

"He's laid out a plan that I think is very reasonable," he said.

"It's a little bit unfortunate that it's come down to having to implement executive action for anything to be done."

Kicking off his last year in the White House with a defiant show of executive power, Mr Obama will ignore Congressional opposition and take a series of unilateral steps, in step with Attorney-General Loretta Lynch, to regulate gun sales and curb illicit purchases.

Ms Lynch said the measures would tighten rules on who must register as a gun dealer, narrow the "gun show" loophole that allow buyers to dodge background checks and a crackdown on "straw purchases" that see weapons purchased through intermediaries.

Charleston shooting was 'unimaginable'

Even for someone working so heavily on the issue of gun violence, the mass shooting in Charleston in June last year came as a shock to the system for Dr Sakran.

White gunman Dylann Roof has been charged with nine counts of murder over the deaths of black worshippers at a church in the town.

"Having had that incident happen in your hometown is just unimaginable," Dr Sakran said.

"You hear it happening all throughout the country but when it hits home, it's something that you can't even express in words."

Dr Sakran said the community had rallied over the past seven months.

"It was one of those moments where it was such a tragic event yet the community was able to come together to grieve, to remember the people that we lost," he said.

"But then also even after that, to bring thought leaders, in order to develop principles and potentially policies that will prevent this from happening again."