U.S. surgeon general declares gun violence a public health emergency

U.S. Surgeon General declares gun violence a public health crisis, urging stricter gun control measures and public health interventions.

The U.S. Surgeon General on June 25 declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by the fast-growing number of injuries and deaths involving firearms in the country.

The advisory issued by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the nation’s top doctor, came as the U.S. grappled with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that left dozens of people dead or wounded.

“People want to be able to walk through their neighbourhoods and be safe,” Dr. Murthy told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

“America should be a place where all of us can go to school, go to work, go to the supermarket, go to our house of worship, without having to worry that that’s going to put our life at risk.” To drive down gun deaths, Dr. Murthy calls on the U.S. to ban automatic rifles, introduce universal background checks for purchasing guns, regulate the industry, pass laws that would restrict their use in public spaces and penalise people who fail to safely store their weapons.

None of those suggestions can be implemented nationwide without legislation passed by the Congress, which typically recoils at gun control measures. Some state legislatures, however, have enacted or may consider some of the surgeon general’s proposals.

Dr. 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 might be injured by a firearm. More than 48,000 Americans died from gun injuries in 2022.

His advisory promises to be controversial and will certainly incense Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed Dr. Murthy’s confirmation — twice — to the job over his statements on gun violence.