US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has declared gun violence a public health crisis, a move aimed at curbing the US' role in leading the world in shooting deaths.
In a first-of-its-kind report urging action, the country's top doctor noted that a majority of Americans or their family members have experienced gun violence.
A public health approach could help, Dr Murthy argues, as it did with changes to seatbelt safety in vehicles and warnings about health impacts of smoking cigarettes. He hopes to remove politics from an issue that has bitterly divided lawmakers and instead have Americans look at the impacts and the data.
"I want people to understand the full impact gun violence is having on the United States," Dr Murthy told the BBC in an interview on Tuesday.
"For every one life lost, there are two people who are shot and injured and are experiencing mental and physical health consequences, family members who grieve the loss of a loved one, witnesses to these incidents, and millions who read about and hear about gun violence every day in the papers."
Gun safety advocates are cautiously optimistic about Tuesday's advisory and see it as a step toward changing how the public view the issue.
"This is not a political issue," Dr Chethan Sathya, director of Northwell Health's Center for Gun Violence Prevention, told the BBC.
"This is about safer communities, firearm safety and violence prevention."
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