Gun Violence as a Public Health Crisis: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Discusses Solutions with Sen. Dick Durbin

Accident – Death – Obituary News : U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, led a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, to discuss gun violence and its impact on public health. The committee aimed to build upon last year’s federal gun safety legislation and explore ways to treat gun violence as a public health crisis.

In his opening remarks, Senator Durbin stated that gun violence is a public health epidemic across the country. He emphasized the need to address this issue and find effective solutions. However, Senate Republicans pushed back against framing gun violence as a public health crisis, arguing that it would violate the Second Amendment and that the focus should be on mental health.

Senator John Cornyn, the top Republican on the committee from Texas, stated that a law-abiding citizen with a firearm is not a threat to public safety. This difference in opinion reflects the ongoing debate surrounding gun control measures in the United States.

Senator Durbin highlighted the importance of input from various experts, including doctors and public health professionals, to help lawmakers decide how to expand and improve the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. This comprehensive federal gun safety legislation, passed by Congress last year, was the most significant in nearly three decades.

Passing any additional gun safety legislation will be challenging, as Republicans control the House of Representatives. Additionally, Democrats, despite having a slim majority in the Senate, would still need to overcome a 60-vote threshold to pass such legislation.

The need for stricter gun control measures has become apparent in light of recent mass shootings. The bipartisan safety act was a response to tragedies such as the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, where 19 children and two teachers were killed, and the white supremacist attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, resulting in the deaths of 10 Black people. This year alone, there have been several high-profile mass shootings, including incidents in Nashville, Tennessee, where three children and three teachers were killed, and Lewiston, Maine, where 18 people were killed and 13 were injured.

Senator Durbin emphasized that the United States stands out among developed nations in terms of gun violence. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 619 mass shootings in the country this year alone. Additionally, firearm-related injuries have become the leading cause of death for children and adolescents, as reported by the New England Journal of Medicine.

One of the witnesses called by the Democrats, Megan L. Ranney, the dean of the Yale School of Public Health, highlighted the urgent need to collect data on gun violence. By analyzing this data, researchers can identify risks, make predictions, and develop violence prevention programs. Ranney stressed the importance of implementing successful programs in communities with high rates of gun violence.

Senator Cornyn argued that mental health plays a significant role in gun violence and mass shootings. He questioned Ranney about the correlation between mental health and these incidents. Ranney responded by stating that studies indicate people with mental health problems are more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators. However, she noted that mental illness is closely connected to firearm suicides, the leading cause of firearm-related deaths in the United States. She also mentioned that most mass shooters were in an identifiable crisis before their attacks, although their rates of serious mental illness are only slightly higher than the average American population.

Another witness called by the Democrats, Franklin Cosey-Gay, the director of the Violence Recovery Program at UChicago Medicine, emphasized the importance of hospital-based violence intervention programs. These programs focus on comprehensive recovery and reducing re-injury after discharge. Cosey-Gay highlighted the multidisciplinary approach involving spiritual care, social work, child life specialists, mental health professionals, and hospital clinical staff.

In September, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham declared gun violence a public health emergency through an executive order. This decision received criticism from several Republicans, including Senators John Kennedy of Louisiana, Mike Lee of Utah, and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. They argued that this declaration hindered the development of reasonable policy solutions. Some Republicans even viewed it as an attack on the Second Amendment. Tillis specifically mentioned that he and other colleagues wrote to the Department of Justice to protect the constitutional rights of New Mexicans regarding firearm possession outside of their homes.

Overall, the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing shed light on the ongoing debate surrounding gun violence and the need for comprehensive gun safety legislation. While Democrats advocate for treating gun violence as a public health crisis, Republicans argue for a focus on mental health. Finding common ground and passing effective legislation will be a challenging task, but the urgency to address the nation’s gun violence problem remains paramount..