The US surgeon general calls gun violence a public health crisis
The U.S. surgeon general Tuesday declared gun violence is a public health crisis caused by the country’s rapidly growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms.
The advice from Dr. Vivek Murthy, the nation’s top doctor, came as the U.S. suffered another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that killed or injured dozens of people.
“People want to be able to walk around their neighborhoods and be safe,” Murthy told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. “America should be a place where we can all go to school, go to work, go to the grocery store, go to our house of worship, without having to worry about it endangering our lives.”
To reduce gun deaths, Murthy calls on the US to ban automatic rifles, implement universal background checks for gun purchases, regulate the industry, pass laws restricting their use in public spaces and to punish those who fail to store their weapons safely.
None of these suggestions can be implemented nationwide without legislation being passed by Congress, which typically shies away from gun control measures. However, some state lawmakers have adopted or may be considering some of the surgeon general’s proposals.
Murthy said there is “broad agreement” that gun violence is a problem, citing a poll last year that found most Americans worry at least sometimes that a loved one could be injured by a gun. That poll tracked the deaths of more than 48,000 Americans from gun injuries in 2022.
His advice promises to be controversial and is sure to infuriate Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed Murthy’s nomination to the job — twice — because of his statements on gun violence.
Murthy has issued warnings about troubling health trends in American life, including social media use and loneliness. He has refrained from issuing similar advice on gun violence since his 2014 confirmation as surgeon general was blocked and nearly derailed by the gun lobby and Republicans who opposed his past statements on guns.
Murthy ultimately promised the Senate that he had “no intention of using my office as surgeon general as a pulpit for gun control.”
Donald Trump fired Murthy at the start of his presidency in 2017. But Joe Biden nominated Murthy again for the position at the start of his presidency in 2021.
During Murthy’s second confirmation hearing, he told senators that declaring guns a public health crisis would not be his focus during another term.
But he has faced increasing pressure from some doctors and Democratic advocacy groups to speak out more. A group of four former surgeon generals asked the Biden administration to prepare a report on the problem in 2022.
“It is now time for us to take this issue out of the realm of politics and into the realm of public health, as we did with smoking more than half a century ago,” Murthy told the AP.
A 1964 report from the surgeon general that raised awareness about the dangers of smoking is largely credited with reducing tobacco use and expediting regulations on the industry.
Children and younger Americans in particular suffer from gun violence, Murthy notes in his advisory Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America. Firearm suicide rates have risen significantly in recent years among Americans under the age of 35.
The research he collected shows that children in the US die from gun wounds at a much higher rate than children in other countries.
In addition to new regulations, Murthy is calling for more research on gun violence and for the health care system — which will likely be more receptive to his advice — to promote gun safety education during doctor visits.