“Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America”

Authority Health’s Statement in Response to the U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory

“Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America”

The direct and indirect health impact of gun violence in America has been devastating. We applaud U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy’s recent pronouncement that this is a public health crisis affecting every sector of society.

Six years since the American Public Health Association and American Medical Association declared violence, in general, a public health crisis, firearm violence has intensified this horrific and destabilizing fissure in our social structure. Since 2020, firearm-related injury has been the leading cause of death for American children and adolescents, surpassing motor vehicle crashes, cancer, and drug overdoses and poisoning. In 2022, nearly 50,000 people died from firearm-related injuries, including suicides, homicides, and unintentional deaths. And it goes without saying that mass shootings have created a terrorizing effect on our collective sense of well-being.

Surgeon General Murthy’s advisory appropriately recognizes the tireless and traumatic work of our emergency care professionals, as well as the educators and school staff who are called upon too often to preserve a healthy learning environment for our students despite the pressures that gun violence makes on young lives. However, we need the collective impact of all community-based organizations to undertake a sustained public health approach to this crisis.

The misuse of firearms must be stopped. Access to care for victims of gun violence and related psychological trauma must be assured. Nothing less than the safety and security of our society is at stake.