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Survivors of gun violence talk about how a fraction of a second changed their lives

To say the least, the statistics surrounding gun violence in the United States are disturbing. On an average day, 93 Americans are killed with guns. Seven of those are children.

For every person killed with guns, two more are injured.

Either by homicide, suicide or accident, over 33,000 people fall victim every year.

[asset-images[{"caption": "Liz Hjelmseth", "fid": "136546", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201705/Liz-sq.jpg", "attribution": "Credit Courtesy of Kathy Shorr"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "I started hopping off to the bathroom to die in the bathtub because I thought it would be easier for my mom to clean up.", "style": "wide"}]]Perhaps if we thought more about what it’s like to be shot — how in a fraction of a second your life changes — and how difficult it is to recover, we could do more to address the problem.

Photographer Kathy Shorr’s new book of images and stories, “Shot: 101 Survivors of Gun Violence in America,” helps provoke that conversation.

[asset-images[{"caption": "Star Caldwell", "fid": "136547", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201705/Star-sq.jpg", "attribution": "Credit Courtesy of Kathy Shorr"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "He had threatened to kill me multiple times, but you just don't really think that he's really serious, or he's going to go through with it.", "style": "wide"}]]Shorr joined a panel of shooting survivors and KUOW’s Patricia Murphy in a discussion at Town Hall Seattle on May 18. Sonya Harris recorded the conversation.

Listen to the full version below:

[asset-images[{"caption": "Courtney Weaver", "fid": "136545", "style": "placed_wide", "uri": "public://201705/Courtney-sq.jpg", "attribution": "Credit Courtesy of Kathy Shorr"}]]

[asset-pullquotes[{"quote": "When I was 23 my boyfriend of six months and fiancee of three days shot me in the face and arm with a hollow point 45.", "style": "wide"}]]

Year started with KUOW: 2006