Everytown, Moms Demand Action Statements on Surgeon General Report Declaring Gun Violence a Public Health Crisis

Announcement Comes on Two Year Mark of the Signing of Bipartisan Safer Communities Act

WASHINGTON — Everytown for Gun Safety and its grassroots networks, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, released the following statements today following the Surgeon General declaring firearm violence in America to be a public health crisis — a historic first.

“Today’s landmark Surgeon General’s Advisory is a critical step forward for gun safety and the evidence-based policy recommendations it offers are proven to save lives,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “With gun violence now the leading cause of death for children and teens in this country, we’re thankful to Surgeon General Murthy and the Biden-Harris Administration for doing everything in their power to tackle this public health crisis head on.” 

“This is a historic Advisory from the Surgeon General that gives our country’s gun violence epidemic the attention and urgency it demands,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, executive director of Moms Demand Action. “We applaud the Biden-Harris Administration for continuing to leave no stone unturned in their efforts to combat a public health crisis that claims the lives of 120 Americans every single day.” 

“The consequences of ​g​un violence are far-ranging​ and ​absolutely overwhelm ​families, communities​, and systems every single day,”​ said Dr. Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, researcher, and Senior Advisor at Everytown for Gun Safety. “Those in the public health community have long seen gun violence as the epidemic that it is. It’s time for the rest of America to see it that way, and today’s announcement will go a long way in raising awareness and encouraging prevention through evidence-based steps.”

The Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence can be found here. Surgeon General’s Advisories are “public statements that call attention to an urgent public health issue and provide recommendations that issue how it should be addressed.” These advisories “are reserved for significant public health challenges that require the nation’s immediate awareness and action.”

In this Advisory, Surgeon General Murthy has outlined a public health approach to gun violence “designed to prevent and reduce harm by changing the conditions and circumstances that contribute to risk of firearm violence . . . as well as the reverberating mental health and emotional impacts.” This approach, among other things, includes:

• Critical research investments to improve data sources and collection, and to expand research and evaluate prevention strategies.
• Community risk reduction and education prevention strategies to implement community violence interventions, encourage health systems to facilitate secure storage education, and address structural determinants (including housing, education, health care, and employment and economic opportunities) that increase the risk of firearm violence. 
• Firearm risk reduction prevention strategies such as secure storage, background checks, Extreme Risk laws, and bans on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines.
• Mental health access and support to increase access to affordable, high-quality mental health care and other trauma-informed resources, and to enhance safety measures and mental health resources for children and adolescents.