Press Release
Posted:
Washington – Today, Gun Violence Prevention Task Force Chair Mike Thompson (CA-04) applauded Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy’s newly-released advisory highlighting the toll the gun violence epidemic is taking on public health in the United States.
“Gun violence kills over 100 Americans each day. It’s past time we study it—and treat it—like the epidemic it is,” said Thompson. “Two years ago today, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act became law, marking the first major federal gun violence prevention legislation in 30 years. I was proud to help pass it. Now, today’s advisory from Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy marks yet another critical step in preventing gun violence, providing reliable research to support the study of gun violence and informing new policies that will help make our communities safer.”
More than half of U.S. adults report that they or a family member have experienced a firearm-related incident. The Surgeon General’s Advisory, entitled Firearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America, outlines the devastating and far-reaching consequences of this firearm violence on the health and well-being of the country.
The Advisory focuses on the overall impact of firearm violence, beyond only deaths and injuries, to detail the cascading harm and collective trauma caused by firearm violence on American youth, families, and communities.
Key findings include:
- 54% of U.S. adults report that they, or a family member, have experienced a firearm-related incident.
- 21% of U.S. adults have been threatened with a firearm.
- 19% of U.S. adults have a family member who was killed by a firearm (including by suicide).
- 17% of U.S. adults have witnessed someone being shot.
- Nearly 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they worry about a loved one being a victim of firearm violence.
- Since 2020, firearm‑related injury has been the leading cause of death for U.S. children and adolescents (ages 1–19), surpassing motor vehicle crashes, cancer, and drug overdose and poisoning.
- More than three-quarters of adults (79%) in the U.S. report experiencing stress from the possibility of a mass shooting, and one in three adults (33%) say fear prevents them from going to certain places or events.
- An estimated 434,000 youth under 19 lost a parent to gun violence from 1999 to 2020.