In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory deeming firearm violence a public health crisis.
“Today, for the first time in the history of our office, I am issuing a Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence,” Dr. Vivek Murthy said in a video statement released on X. “Firearm violence is a public health crisis in America that poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of our country.”
“As a doctor, I've seen the consequences of firearm violence up close and the lives of the patients that cared [sic] for over the years,” he continued. “These are moms and dads, sons and daughters, all of whom were robbed of their physical and mental health by senseless acts of violence.” 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
Murthy cited several statistics to support his advisory, including what he referred to as a “staggering” study indicating that 54 percent of adults say they or a family member have been involved in a firearm-related incident. An incident, in this case, refers to individuals who have been threatened with or injured by a firearm, lost a family member, witnessed a shooting, or shot a firearm in self-defense.
“Many of these harms are disproportionately felt in our communities,” he said. “Black individuals endure the highest rates of firearm homicides, while suicide rates are highest among Veterans, older white individuals, and younger American Indian or Alaska Native people.”
The surgeon general also cited a 2022 study that found firearms are the leading cause of death for individuals 19 years old and under.
“I've sat with parents who've lost their child to firearm violence,” he said. “I've listened to their stories and felt their pain as they describe the holes in their hearts. As a father, I know a parent's worst nightmare is to lose a child, to feel like you can't protect your child from harm.”
In his advisory, Murthy called for public health leaders and policymakers to require safe firearm storage, implement universal background checks for all firearm purchase, and “ban assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use” [emphasis his].
The advisory also advocates for firearm removal policies, or Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs), which “can temporarily prohibit individuals at risk of harming themselves or others from purchasing or possessing a firearm, and in such circumstances, they can also allow for the temporary removal of firearms already in a person’s possession.”
Murthy also suggested firearms should be treated like other consumer products, like motor vehicles, pesticides, or prescriptions drugs, so they can be regulated at the federal level.
“Firearm violence is a public health crisis. Our failure to address it is a moral crisis. To protect the health and well-being of Americans, especially our children, we must now act with the clarity, courage and urgency that this moment demands,” Murthy’s statement concluded.
The announcement was met with a mixed response from lawmakers and pundits divided along ideological lines.
Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), as well as Baltimore Mayor Brandon M .Scott praised Murthy’s advisory.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) similarly agreed with the surgeon general’s assessment.
“In the Hartford neighborhood I live in, the kids tell me school is the safe place. It's the walk to and from school where they often fear for their lives,” Murphy wrote. “The brain damage being done to kids by the constant exposure to the threat of violence IS a public health danger.” In the Hartford neighborhood I live in, the kids tell me school is the safe place. It's the walk to and from school where they often fear for their lives.
The brain damage being done to kids by the constant exposure to the threat of violence IS a public health danger. https://t.co/6dtI0gBwO9
— Chris Murphy 🟧 (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 25, 2024
Libertarian X accounts criticized the announcement.
“The existence of the state is a public health crisis,” quipped the Libertarian Party’s Pennsylvania Mises Caucus.
“You can’t declare a natural right a public health crisis, demon,” noted Timcast employee Josie Glabach, who goes by “The Redheaded libertarian” on X.
“You might not realize how sinister this is,” said another X user. “Murthy is trying to bring regulation of civil rights under the jurisdiction of the administrative state.”
The user added: “Pick a civil liberty that’s better after some appointed bureaucrat goes over it. Go for it.”
Spike Cohen, the 2020 vice presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party, responded, “F--- you, no.”
In a subsequent post, he said his initial reply was the “only one that came to mind at the moment.”
