Hello, I’m U.S. Surgeon General, Doctor Vivek Murthy. Today, for the first time in the history of our office, I am issuing a Surgeon General’s Advisory on firearm violence. It outlines the urgent threat firearm violence poses 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 for over the years. These are moms and dads, sons and daughters, all of whom were robbed of their physical and mental health by senseless acts of violence.
Unfortunately, the problem has continued to grow. Fifty-four percent of adults in America report that they or family member have experienced a firearm related incident, whether they’ve been personally 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. 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.
What is especially devastating is how this has affected our children. Firearm violence has become the number one cause of death among children and adolescents, more than car accidents or drug overdoses.
I’ve sat with parents who’ve lost their child to firearm violence. 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.
Beyond these precious lives that are lost to firearm violence, there are wider ripples of harm to those who are injured, who witnessed the incidents, who live in urban and rural communities where such violence takes place, and who constantly read and hear about firearm violence.
The collective trauma and fear that Americans are experiencing is contributing to the mental health challenges that we are facing today. Nearly 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they worry about a loved one being a victim of firearm violence.
Our children should not have to live in fear that they are going to get shot if they go to school. None of us should have to worry that going to the mall or concert, or house of worship means putting our lives at risk, or that we’ll get a call that a loved one in a moment of crisis has taken their own life with a firearm.
All of us, regardless of our background or beliefs, want to live in a world that is safe for us and our children.
The Surgeon General’s Advisory lays out the approach we can take to address firearm violence as the public health crisis that it is. This includes implementing community violence prevention programs and firearm risk reduction strategies, improving access to mental health care for those exposed to or at risk for firearm violence, and expanding research funding to inform and evaluate our prevention strategies.
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.
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