United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy this week issued an advisory on the “public health crisis” of gun violence across the country.
The 40-page advisory, which is the first publication from the Office of the Surgeon General dedicated to gun violence, underscores the widespread impact of firearm deaths and injuries on Americans.
Dr. Murthy noted staggering data points in the advisory:
- Gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, surpassing motor vehicle crashes, cancer, and drug overdose and poisoning.
- More than half (54 percent) of U.S. adults or their family members have experienced a gun-related incident in their lives.
- Nearly six in 10 adults worry “sometimes,” “almost every day,” or “every day,” about a loved one being a victim of gun violence.
- Twenty-one percent of adults have been threatened with a gun.
- Nineteen percent of adults have a family member who was killed by a gun (including by suicide).
- More than three-quarters of adults (79 percent) experience stress from the possibility of a mass shooting, and one in three adults (33 percent) say fear prevents them from going to certain places or events.
“Firearm violence is an urgent public health crisis that has led to loss of life, unimaginable pain, and profound grief for far too many Americans,” said Dr. Murthy. “We don’t have to continue down this path, and we don’t have to subject our children to the ongoing horror of firearm violence in America. All Americans deserve to live their lives free from firearm violence, as well as from the fear and devastation that it brings. It will take the collective commitment of our nation to turn the tide on firearm violence.”
The advisory outlines an evidence-based public health approach to address gun violence. The four components include:
- Critical research investments, such as improved data sources and collection; expanded short-term and long-term outcomes of gun violence; and implemented science research to improve effectiveness of prevention strategies.
- Community risk reduction and education prevention strategies, including the establishment of community violence interventions; incorporation of organizational violence prevention and emergency preparedness elements into safety programs; encouragement of health systems to facilitate education on safe and secure storage; and addressing contributing factors to gun violence.
- Firearm risk reduction strategies, such as requirement of safe and secure gun storage; implementation of universal background checks and expanded purchaser licensing laws; banning assault weapons and large capacity magazines for civilian use; requirement of safety testing or safety features; implementation of effective gun removal policies; and safer conditions in public places related to gun use including policies that govern who can carry a loaded firearm (open or concealed) in public spaces.
- Mental health action and support, such as increased access to affordable, high-quality mental health care and substance use treatment; and enhanced safety measures and evidence-based violence prevention efforts in learning settings.