Surgeon general declares firearm violence a public health crisis in US

Key takeaways:

• The advisory is the first from the Office of the Surgeon General dedicated to firearm violence.
• The advisory calls for firearm risk reduction strategies, mental health support and critical resource investments.

United States Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, declared firearm violence a public health crisis in the United States and called for more strategies to prevent firearm-related injuries and deaths.

“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,” Murthy said in a press release. “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.”

According to the release, the advisory is the first publication from the Office of the Surgeon General that is dedicated to firearm violence and its impacts on well-being and health.

CDC data show that more than 48,110 people died from firearm-related injuries in the U.S. in 2022. Certain populations are significantly disproportionally affected by firearm violence. Black Americans experienced the highest firearm homicide rates in every age group in 2022, whereas Black youth accounted for about half of all firearm deaths among all youth, the release noted. In that same year, the firearm suicide rate for people aged younger than 45 years was highest among American Indian or Alaska Native people.

Furthermore, rates of firearm-related injuries and deaths are consistently high among children and adolescents. As Healio previously reported, in 2022, firearms were the leading cause of death among youth aged 1 to 19 years for the 5th straight year. Overall, there were 4,590 firearm-related deaths in that age group in 2022 — the second highest rate in the last 25 years.

Mental health is also impacted by firearm violence, as prior research showed that firearm survivors reported PTSD symptoms months after their injury.

According to the release, the advisory provides an evidence-informed public health approach to addressing firearm violence. Components of the approach include:

• research investments to improve data collection, examine the short- and long-term impacts of gun violence and improve the effectiveness of prevention efforts;
• community risk reduction strategies, like implementing community violence strategies and advocating for health care systems to create education on safe and secure firearm storage;
• firearm risk reduction strategies that require safe and secure storage, implement universal background checks, ban assault weapons for civilian use and require safety testing and features for firearms; and
• mental health action and support, like increasing access to high-quality mental health care and substance use treatment and building on investments to improve safety measures and violence prevention.

“Across the country, physicians everywhere treat patients and families afflicted by firearm violence,” AMA President Bruce A. Scott, MD, said in the release. “We see the physical and emotional harm firsthand, and we dread the too-often conversations with parents, spouses, and even children in which we tell them their loved one did not make it. Firearm violence is indeed a public health crisis, and the data now show it touches the majority of U.S. adults.”

References:

• Fast facts: Firearm injury and death. https://www.cdc.gov/firearm-violence/data-research/facts-stats/index.html. Accessed June 25, 2024.
• Firearm violence in America. https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/priorities/firearm-violence/index.html. Accessed June 25, 2024.
• Firearm Violence in the United States. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/center-for-gun-violence-solutions/research-reports/firearm-violence-in-the-united-states. Accessed June 25, 2024.
• U.S. surgeon general issues advisory on the public health crisis of firearm violence in the United States. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/06/25/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-public-health-crisis-firearm-violence-united-states.html. Published June 25, 2024. Accessed June 25, 2024.