Gun violence is getting worse. Can a shift in perspective be the solution?

The surgeon general's office has declared gun violence a national public health crisis.

The office issued a 40-page advisory outlining the science and statistics around firearms, along with proposals to limit gun injuries and deaths.

It's the first time the body has ever issued a public health advisory about firearms, and for Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, it's a step in reframing the conversation about death by gunfire.

While speaking with NPR, Murthy says that he lays out, "A series of strategies in this advisory that we can take to address the scourge of gun violence."

According to the CDC, more than 48,000 Americans were killed by gun violence in 2021, and over half of those deaths were by suicide.

"What we have to recognize is the toll it's taken on us," said Murthy. "The highest price we're paying are the lives lost. But for every one person who loses their life to gun violence, there are two who are injured, and who survive, but with mental and physical consequences."

Increasingly inescapable.

Eryk Brown grew up in Chicago, and remembers living with the fear of gun violence for his entire childhood.

"When I was growing up, I was like, 'I hope I never get shot. That's something that I never want to experience.' So I made sure to avoid every way possible to not get shot."

Brown went to the University of Wisconsin for college, a decision made in part to escape the gun violence that proliferated in his hometown.

"I don't have to lean towards the streets and be involved in nonsense that I don't see myself being a part of. I never thought I was going to be a victim of gun violence."

But even with all of the efforts Brown made, it wasn't enough.

A few years ago, after relocating to Chicago for a summer internship, Brown and his friend were shot outside of their car while waiting for a takeout order at a vegan restaurant.

They each recovered from their physical injuries – but not long after the shooting, Brown described the mental toll of that experience.

"All I can remember during that time is just saying in my head, 'When is this going to be over? When is this going to be over?' Just praying that it's going to be over, and that I don't get hit nowhere that it will permanently make me disabled or even kill me."

Advocating for change

The issue of gun violence is a contentious political conversation in this country. But for years now, doctors and health care officials have pushed to make it a conversation about public health, including Dr. Cedrick Dark, an associate professor of emergency medicine at Baylor University.

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Dark believes that by putting a direct spotlight on the issue, the Surgeon General's report will focus the public on effective solutions.

"Think about the Surgeon General's report on smoking and tobacco. It changed the paradigm and, for the next couple generations after that, allowed us to tackle the tobacco industry. So this is something that I think allows us to look at the cures to gun violence but, instead of through a political lens, through a scientific lens and a public health lens."

Dark also emphasizes the importance of approaching gun violence, like other public health issues, with a tiered approach.

• Primary – eg. background checks, that prevent guns from going to the wrong people.
• Secondary – eg. safe storage, and other strategies to ensure that gun owners are being responsible with their firearms.
• Tertiary – eg. violence intervention programs, to ensure that if someone has been shot, it can be prevented from happening again.