Gun Violence Declared “Public Health Emergency” By Biden’s Surgeon-General
The Biden administration’s Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, has declared gun violence a “public health crisis” in the United States. The public health advisory advocates for “banning assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” from civilian use.
This advisory from the Health and Human Services Department, led by Murthy, marks the first time a Surgeon General has labeled gun violence a public health crisis. The advisory “describes the public health crisis of firearm violence in America and outlines strategies for firearm injury and violence prevention, focusing on the health and well-being of children, families, and communities.” The advisory follows Hunter Biden’s conviction on federal gun charges in Delaware. The document from HHS recommends several policies to prevent gun violence.
Murthy and the HHS support “requir[ing] safe and secure firearm storage, including child access prevention laws,” “universal background checks and expanded purchaser licensing laws,” implementing “effective firearm removal policies” for those convicted of felonies, “ban[ning] assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use,” restricting open and concealed carry with policies that “govern who can carry a loaded firearm in public spaces,” and adding more regulation to firearm manufacturing.
NEW: Today, for the first time in the history of our office, I am issuing a Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence. Firearm violence is a public health crisis in America that poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of our country. https://t.co/bNS7xDa96X 1/10 pic.twitter.com/1w43IMMpxA
— Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) June 25, 2024
Laws regarding safe storage of firearms would also “penalize those who put children at risk due to failures related to safe storage.”
The gun control proposals from the advisory aim to “expand on current federal law … to include mandatory background checks for all firearm purchases, including private sales and transferring/gifting firearms.”
The HHS health advisory states that mass shootings represent “only about 1 percent of all firearm-related deaths in the US” but that “mass shooting incidents cause outsized collective trauma on society and have a strong negative effect on the public’s perception of safety.” Most shooting deaths occur in smaller-scale criminal instances or by suicide. The report notes that 79 percent of adults have reported “experiencing stress from the possibility of a mass shooting.”
As I shared on @CBSMornings, firearm violence in our country is a public health crisis that requires a public health solution. In my Advisory, I lay out a series of strategies that can help us reduce the profound harm that firearm violence poses to our physical & mental health. pic.twitter.com/fYq4jibZTx
— Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) June 26, 2024
Aside from the violence in the shootings themselves, the HHS highlights the broader impact of gun violence in mass shootings, noting that “exposure to firearm violence can contribute to elevated stress levels and mental health challenges and threaten the sense of well-being for entire communities.”
“Firearm violence exposure,” as defined in the report, can also include “encountering these incidents on the news or social media.”
The report also raises concerns for “health workers who regularly treat firearm-related injuries,” fearing that the violence may cause “secondary traumatic stress.”
Murthy’s advisory concludes that the document “describes the health impact of firearm violence in the US. The increasing number of children and adolescents dying from firearm-related injuries and the reverberating mental health impacts on society make firearm violence an urgent public health crisis in America.”
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