THE American surgeon general said Tuesday gun violence: a public health crisisdue to the increasing number of gun-related injuries and deaths in the country.
The advisory issued by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the country’s top doctor, comes as the United States grapples with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings which left dozens dead or injured.
“People want to be able to walk around their neighborhood 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 supermarket, go to our place of worship, without having to worry that it will put our lives in danger.”
To reduce gun deaths, Murthy calls on the United States to ban automatic rifles, introduce universal background checks for gun purchases, regulate the industry, pass laws that would restrict their use in public spaces and to penalize people who do not store their weapons safely.
None of these suggestions can be implemented nationally without legislation passed by Congress, which is generally averse to gun control measures. However, some state legislatures have adopted or may consider some of the surgeon general’s proposals.
Murthy said there is “broad agreement” that Gun violence That’s a problem, citing a poll last year that found most Americans worry, at least sometimes, that a loved one might be harmed by a gun. More than 48,000 Americans have died from gunshot wounds in 2022.
Murthy’s opinion promises to be controversial and is sure to anger Republican lawmakers, most of whom have opposed — twice — Murthy’s confirmation to the post because of his statements on gun violence.
Murthy has issued warnings about troubling health trends in American life, including social networks use and solitude. He has refrained from issuing a similar opinion 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 firearms.
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Murthy eventually promised the Senate that he “does not intend to use my position as surgeon general as a focal point for intimidation on gun control.”
Then-President Donald Trump fired Murthy in 2017, but President Joe Biden nominated Murthy to the post again in 2021. During his second confirmation hearing, he told senators that declaring arms to fire as a public health crisis would not be his focus during a new term.
But he has faced increasing pressure from some doctors and Democratic rights groups to speak out more. A group of four former surgeons general has asked the Biden administration to produce a report on the problem in 2022.
“Take this issue out of politics”
“Now is the time for us to take this issue out of the political realm and into the public health realm, as we did with smoking more than half a century ago,” Murthy said. to the P.
A 1964 report by the surgeon general that raised awareness of the dangers of smoking is widely credited with rejecting tobacco use and precipitating regulation of the industry.
American children and youth, in particular, suffer from gun violence, Murthy notes in his advisory, “Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America.” Gun suicide rate have increased significantly in recent years for Americans under 35. Children in the United States are far more likely to die from gunshot wounds than children in other countries, according to research he has collected.
In addition to the new regulations, Murthy calls for increased 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 visits to the doctor.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported gun injury rate last year remained above the levels observed before the COVID-19 pandemic for a fourth consecutive year. Preliminary data from the CDC on gun deaths also shows that last year’s rates remained worse than 2019 nationally, despite a slowdown from peak levels in 2020 and 2021.
A new FBI report published Monday showed that active shooters violently targeted members of the public across the United States at an 89% higher rate between 2019 and 2023 than during the previous five-year period. Last year, 105 people were killed in active shooting incidents, the highest level in recent years.
Public safety numbers released Monday by federal investigators showed a mix of slight year-over-year improvements in some areas of concern across the country — including a 4% decrease in active shootings in 2023 compared to to 2022 – and slight declines in other measures, such as total casualties and “massacre” events.
In the United States, 244 victims were shot by active shooters last year; 139 were injured and 105 were killed. Compared to the previous year, the total number of casualties – injuries and deaths combined – was down from 313 in 2022, but five more people were killed in 2023 compared to 2022.
These incidents represent only a fraction of the overall toll of gun violence. On average, gun homicides killed more than 53 people per day in the United States in 2022, according to CDC data.
Alexander Tin and Rob Legare contributed to this report.
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