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The U.S. surgeon general on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health crisis, driven by the\u00a0fast-growing number of injuries and deaths<\/a>\u00a0involving firearms in the country.<\/p>\n The advisory issued by Dr. Vivek Murthy, the nation\u2019s top doctor, came as the U.S. grappled with another summer weekend marked by mass shootings that\u00a0left dozens of people dead or wounded<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople want to be able to walk through their neighborhoods and be safe,\u201d Murthy told The Associated Press in a phone interview. \u201cAmerica should be a place where all of us can go to school, go to work, go to the supermarket, go to our house of worship, without having to worry that that\u2019s going to put our life at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n To drive down gun deaths, Murthy calls on the U.S. to ban\u00a0automatic rifles<\/a>, introduce universal background checks for purchasing guns, regulate the industry, pass laws that would restrict their use in public spaces and penalize people who fail to safely store their weapons.<\/p>\n None of those suggestions can be implemented nationwide without legislation passed by Congress, which typically\u00a0recoils<\/a>\u00a0at gun control measures. Some state legislatures, however, have enacted or may consider some of the surgeon general\u2019s proposals.<\/p>\n Separately on Tuesday, the White House reported that more than 500 people, including some linked to transnational cartels and organized crime rings, have been charged with gun trafficking and other crimes under\u00a0the landmark gun safety legislation<\/a>\u00a0President Joe Biden signed two years ago.<\/p>\n The report obtained by The Associated Press on the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also said that enhanced background checks under the new law have stopped roughly 800 sales of firearms to people under age 21 who would be prohibited from buying them.<\/p>\n The bill was a signature achievement for the Democratic president, and the particulars on how it has been implemented come as he seeks reelection in November. But Biden is also\u00a0quick to say the law didn\u2019t go far enough<\/a>, as he continues to push for stricter background checks and has called for a ban on assault rifles.<\/p>\n Surgeon General Murthy said there is \u201cbroad agreement\u201d that gun violence is a problem, citing a\u00a0poll<\/a>\u00a0last year that found most Americans worry at least sometimes that a loved one might be injured by a firearm. More than 48,000 Americans died from gun injuries in 2022.<\/p>\n However, his advisory promises to be controversial and will certainly incense Republican lawmakers, most of whom opposed Murthy\u2019s confirmation \u2014 twice \u2014 to the job over his statements on gun violence.<\/p>\n Murthy has published warnings about troubling health trends in American life, including\u00a0loneliness<\/a>\u00a0and social media use. In an opinion piece in The New York Times earlier this month, he said\u00a0social media has contributed to the mental health crisis<\/a>\u00a0among the country\u2019s young people and asked Congress to require warning labels on social media platforms similar to those on cigarette boxes.<\/p>\n He\u2019s stayed away from issuing a similar advisory about gun violence since his 2014\u00a0confirmation<\/a>\u00a0as surgeon general was stalled and nearly derailed by the firearm lobby and Republicans who opposed his past statements about firearms.<\/p>\n Murthy ended up promising the Senate that he did \u201cnot intend to use my office as surgeon general as a bully pulpit on gun control.\u201d<\/p>\n Then-President Donald Trump dismissed Murthy in 2017, but Biden nominated him again to the position in 2021. At his second confirmation hearing, he told senators that declaring guns a public health crisis would not be his focus during a new term.<\/p>\n But he has faced mounting pressure from some doctors and Democratic advocacy groups to speak out more. A group of four former surgeon generals asked the Biden administration to produce a report on the problem in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is now time for us to take this issue out of the realm of politics and put it in the realm of public health, the way we did with smoking more than a half century ago,\u201d Murthy told the AP.<\/p>\n A 1964\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0from the surgeon general that raised awareness about the dangers of smoking is largely credited with snubbing out tobacco use and precipitating regulations on the industry.<\/p>\n Children and younger Americans, in particular, are suffering from gun violence, Murthy notes in his advisory called \u201cFirearm Violence: A Public Health Crisis in America.\u201d Suicide by gun rates have increased significantly in recent years for Americans under the age of 35. Children in the U.S. are far more likely to die from gun wounds than children in other countries, the research he gathered shows.<\/p>\n In addition to new regulations, Murthy calls for an increase on gun violence research and for the health system \u2014 which is likely to be more amenable to his advisory \u2014 to promote gun safety education during doctor visits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the Fortune Next to Lead newsletter to get weekly strategies on how to make it to the corner office. Sign up for free<\/a>.<\/div>\n