Biden admin declares 'gun violence' to be 'public health crisis' after president's son convicted on federal gun charges

The Biden administration's Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared that gun violence is a "public health crisis" in the United States. The public health advisory vouches for "banning assault weapons" as well as "large capacity magazines" from being used by the civilian population.  

The advisory from the Health and Human Services Department under Murthy, marks the first time that gun violence has been dubbed a public health crisis by a Surgeon General. The advisory "describes the public health crisis of firearm violence in America and describes strategies for firearm injury and violence prevention, with a focus on the health and well-being of children, families, and communities." The advisory comes after Hunter Biden was convicted and found guilty on all counts in his federal gun charges case in Delaware. The document from HHS recommends several policies be put into place in order to prevent gun violence. 

Murthy and the HHS vouch for "requir[ing] safe and secure firearm storage, including child access prevention laws," "universal background checks and expand purchaser licensing laws," implementing "effective firearm removal policies" for those who are convicted of felonies, "ban[ning] assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for civilian use," restrict open and closed carry with policies that "govern who can carry a loaded firearm in public spaces," as well as adding more regulation to how they are manufactured.  

Laws in regard to safe storage of firearms will also "penalize those who put children at risk due to failures related to safe storage." 

The gun control proposals from the advisory would "expand on current federal law ... to include mandatory background checks for all firearm purchases, including private sales and transferring/ gifting firearms." 

In the health advisory from HHS, it stated that mass shootings represent "only about 1 percent of all firearm‑related deaths in the US" but that the "mass shooting incidents cause outsized collective trauma on society and have a strong negative effect on the public’s perception of safety." Most of the shooting deaths happen in smaller-scale criminal instances or by suicide. The report said that 79 percent of adults have reported "experiencing stress from the possibility of a mass shooting." 

Aside from the violence in the shootings themselves, the HHS took issue with the amount of gun violence in mass shootings because "exposure to firearm violence can contribute to elevated stress levels and mental health challenges and threaten the sense of well‑being for entire communities."  

“Firearm violence exposure” as defined in the report can also include “encountering these incidents on the news or social media.” 

The report also had concerns for "health workers who regularly treat firearm‑related injuries," and has fears that the violence may cause "secondary traumatic stress." 

Murthy's advisory concludes that the document "describes the health impact of firearm violence in the US. The increasing number of children and adolescents dying from firearm‑related injuries and the reverberating mental health impacts on society make firearm violence an urgent public health crisis in America."