Surgeon general calls gun violence a health crisis

What happened

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared gun violence an "urgent public health crisis" on Tuesday. His first-of-its-kind advisory urged the U.S. to tackle the physical and psychological harms from shootings with the same tools and intensity used to promote smoking cessation, seat belt use and other nonpartisan public health interventions.

Who said what

More than 48,000 Americans died from firearm injuries in 2022, more than half of those deaths suicides. Gun violence overtook car accidents as the leading cause of death for children in 2020. There is "broad agreement" that gun violence is a problem, and Americans need to know "this is a profound" but "solvable public health crisis," Murthy said to USA Today. "We can do something about it."

His proposals included warning labels for firearms, banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, mandating safe gun storage, and increasing mental health resources for victims and witnesses of gun violence. On X, the National Rifle Association called Murthy's advisory "an extension of the Biden Administration's war on law-abiding gun owners."

What next?

Few of Murthy's suggestions "can be implemented nationwide without legislation passed by Congress," where most gun legislation dies, The Associated Press said. But some state legislatures "have enacted or may consider some of the surgeon general's proposals." 

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