Fed up with the toll gun injuries take on their patients, physicians from Chicago’s top hospitals took an unusual step late last October. They joined Illinois lawmakers during a news conference to endorse state legislation requiring licensing for gun dealers.

“It represents the galvanizing of shared hospital-level advocacy on one of the most important public health issues of our time,” said Matt Davis, MD, director of Academic General Pediatrics at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. Others at the event included physicians from the University of Chicago, Rush Medical Center, and the Illinois chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.