a new advisory from the US Surgeon General declares gun violence in America is an urgent Public Health crisis the report citing Rising deaths of young people and Broad mental health impacts argues for a comprehensive approach to stem gun violence similar to Tobacco related and motor vehicle related deaths the National Rifle Association today called it quote an extension of the bid administration's war on law-abiding gun owners joining us now is Dr Emmy Betts she's an emergenc room physician and director of the firearm injury prevention initiative at the University of Colorado Dr bets welcome back thanks for joining us thank you so much for having me so you work in an ER in Colorado as we mentioned you run this firearm injury prevention initiative from what you've seen in your work is this public health declaration necessary right now I really think it is because I think it lays out sort of two key tenants the first is that this is a health problem we are trying to prevent the the injuries the deaths the psychological harm related to Firearms so it's not about the device itself it's about the the negative consequences it can have um and it's also about acknowledging that public health is a science we have a framework on how we can prevent these injuries and deaths the harm that nobody wants to have happen and so I think having a report of this magnitude really lays it out uh and and points us in a way forward so what is labeling at a public health crisis change in the way of what you see every day in your ER or in terms of the funding for actual research that goes into firearm injury prevention what changes with this well when we talk about a public health approach what it really is is a is a four-step cycle that first starts with looking at data to understand who's being injured or killed and why is it from suicide is it from mass shootings is it from youth violence in the community and then it's about identifying the strategies that will work to prevent those injuries and deaths and those harms and I you know what works in Wyoming for suicide prevention might be really different than what works uh in Denver for youth at risk of of uh interpersonal violence um and then the public health approach we further the things that are um that are effective we scale them up in a bigger way so using that approach and what this report can help us uh really think about in a more systematic way is what do we know that already works and how can we scale that up things like Community violence intervention programs uh or respect full counseling by Healthcare Providers uh where are the gaps what we what do we not know uh where can we invest in funding um and again it's a a big and messy problem so it's going to take multiple different solutions but this framework can help us really think about the problem in a systematic way you mentioned the data and there is a lot of data that we do have already I want to underscore some of that for our viewers the report includes the statistics we reported a number of times that since 2020 firearm related injury has been the leading cause of death for us children uh in 2022 there were more than 48,000 people who were killed by in gun violence um more than half of all gun-related deaths in 2022 were from suicides and this is an alarming Trend that was noted among people aged 25 to 34 firearm related suicide rate has climbed 43% in the last decade I know Dr Betts much of your work in Colorado revolves around gun related suicides what explains that sharp increase in the last decade I will say a positive trend over recent years I think has been increasing willingness to talk about mental health and mental illness and the stresses that we're going through it and that's certainly important um but we also know that firearm and Firearm availability can significantly increase the risk of death in when someone's going through a period it's not that the firearm causes the suicide the presence of a gun alone is not going to make someone suddenly think of suicide but if someone is going through a rough patch maybe a bad divorce Maybe subance abuse maybe mental illness combined with a bunch of other things if they reach for a gun in that moment they're unlikely to survive and so I think it's very much like a designated driver to help somebody you know get home from the bar when they're maybe not at their at their best or thinking they clearest uh and and that's the a similar approach that we need in the firearm Suicide Prevention space this report also aims to take this conversation sort of out of the political real and move it into the public health realm but it's worth pointing out the report calls for for things like Universal background checks a ban on assault weapons things that have been up for discussion before and haven't politically been able to move forward I just wonder if you think in this climate those kinds of steps are even possible so I have to think yes and that I have to think everything is possible look none of us want these injuries and deaths to be happening we all want our families and our communities and our kids to be happy and safe and so I really hope that we can have everything on the table for consideration um including recognizing what things have evidence behind them and which don't and how do we decide as a as a society to move forward at the University of Colorado we're really proud to be working in a nonpartisan space we recognize legislation can be part of the solution but it's not the only solution and I think sometimes we we can feel so paralyzed by the political debate that we forget there's lots of other things we can be doing in the meantime to help prevent again these injuries and deaths that nobody wants all right that is Dr Emmy Betts director of firearm injury prevention initiative at the University of Colorado Dr Betts thank you it's great to speak with you thank you