Gun Violence Discussed as Public Health Crisis in the US Senate Judiciary Committee
Washington, D.C. – Democrats on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee met on Tuesday to discuss treating gun violence as a public health crisis. The aim is to build upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation.
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In his opening remarks, Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the committee’s chairman, referred to gun violence as a “public health epidemic” across the country. However, Senate Republicans pushed back, arguing that this approach would violate the Second Amendment and that the focus should be on mental health instead.
Durbin stated that the Democratic witnesses, including doctors and public health experts, would help lawmakers determine how to expand the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most comprehensive federal gun safety legislation passed in almost 30 years.
Passing any additional gun safety legislation will be challenging, as Republicans control the House and Democrats only have a slim majority in the Senate. They would still need to surpass a 60-vote threshold.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act came in response to tragic events, such as the Uvalde, Texas school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers, and the white supremacist attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, where 10 Black people were killed.
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This year alone, there have been 619 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Firearm-related injuries are now the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in the United States, as reported by the New England Journal of Medicine.
Megan L. Ranney, the dean of the Yale School of Public Health, stressed the importance of collecting data on gun violence to analyze risks and develop violence prevention programs. She highlighted the need to scale up successful projects and implement them in communities with high rates of gun violence.
Republican Senator John Cornyn argued that mental health was closely tied to gun violence and mass shootings. However, Ranney pointed out that studies have shown people with mental health problems are more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators.
Witness Franklin Cosey-Gay, the director of the Violence Recovery Program at UChicago Medicine, emphasized the critical role of hospital-based violence intervention programs in addressing the gun violence epidemic. He suggested a multidisciplinary approach involving various specialists to ensure comprehensive recovery and reduce re-injury after discharge.
The discussion took place amidst controversy surrounding New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s executive order declaring gun violence a public health emergency. Several Republican senators criticized the order, claiming it was an attack on the Second Amendment.
The debate on gun violence as a public health crisis continues as Democrats and Republicans clash over the best approach to address this pressing issue.
