On Monday, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released a 39-page advisory paper declaring that gun violence is a public health crisis, an attempt to take the politics out of an issue that has deeply divided us.
“I want people to understand the full impact of firearm violence in our country, and I want them to see it as a public health issue,” Murthy told the Washington Post. “I know it’s been polarizing and I know it’s been politicized, but if we can see it as a public health issue, we can come together and implement a public health solution.”
Here is the fact: Death and injuries caused by gun violence are uniquely high in America. A 2015 study from the CDC and World Health Organization showed that the United States had a firearm death rate 11.4 times higher than 28 other high-income nations.
And the problem is getting worse, not better. Gun deaths hit a 30-year high in 2021 in this country.
I break it all down in today’s edition of “The Morning.”
The Morning: Our gun violence epidemic