HARTFORD, Conn. — The U.S. Surgeon General declared gun violence a public health crisis Tuesday after new data shows gun violence is the leading cause of death in kids and teens. Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a historic advisory on gun violence, a first for the office of the surgeon general.
Murthy says gun violence causes a ripple of harm from those who die or are injured, to witnesses and communities which the surgeon general says leads to collective trauma.
“The collective trauma and fear that Americans are experiencing is contributing to the mental health challenges that we're facing today,” said Murthy.
RELATED: US surgeon general declares gun violence a public health emergency
Dr. Jody Terranova, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, says Tuesday’s announcement should come as a wake-up call.
“It’s higher than cancer. It's higher than motor vehicle accidents, its higher than drownings, poisonings, all of the other things that we think of that we know children we die from firearms is now number one,” said Terranova.
State lawmakers say Connecticut has been ahead of the curve when addressing gun violence as a public health crisis and could be used as example across the country.
“We passed a bill in 2022 where the Commissioner of Public Health oversees a gun violence intervention program for the past two years. This is a very important program that we started about two years ago where we are looking at the from a public health lens that crime and violence around firearms and looking at it how can we have intervention programs to reduce the risk to our citizens,” said State Sen. Saud Anwar.
While some advocates say this is long overdue, others say this is just politics. The NRA released a statement on social media.
“This is an extension of the Biden Administration's war on law-abiding gun owners. America has a crime problem caused by criminals. The reluctance to prosecute and punish criminals on the part of President Biden and many of his allies is the primary cause of that. That's a simple fact," wrote Randy Kozuch, NRA-ILA executive director.
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“It's not a political issue, it is a public health issue. It doesn't have to be this way and it shouldn't be this way, and if it's labeled as a political issue, people can brush it aside,” said Melissa Kane, interim executive director of CT Against Gun Violence.
Kane says today’s announcement will help bring awareness and support for gun violence prevention.
“He's not going to be able to single handedly implement change, but it will persuade people to implement policy change and perhaps allocate more resources to gun violence prevention than the necessarily would have before this announcement,” said Kane.
To read the U.S. Surgeon General’s full advisory click here.
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Jake Garcia is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. He can be reached at jgarcia@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
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