The US Department of Health and Human Services has removed the 2024 surgeon general’s advisory on gun violence from its website. A link to the Office of the Surgeon General’s publications on firearm violence displays a “Page Not Found” message.
“HHS and the Office of the Surgeon General are complying with President Trump’s Executive Order on Protecting Second Amendment Rights,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said in an email Tuesday.
Trump issued an executive order last month calling for the attorney general to “examine all orders, regulations, guidance, plans, international agreements, and other actions of executive departments and agencies” related to Second Amendment rights and all “Presidential and agencies’ actions from January 2021 through January 2025 that purport to promote safety but may have impinged on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.”
In June, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy declared in a major advisory that gun violence in the United States is a public health crisis and demanded urgent action, calling for more research and stronger laws to reduce harm.
The advisory was the first time a publication from the country’s leading voice for public health focused on firearm violence and its impact on public health.
There were 46,726 firearm-related deaths in the US in 2023, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is just 4% fewer than the three-decade high reached in 2021, when 48,830 people died from firearms.
Trump’s pick to follow Murthy as surgeon general, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, has not yet been scheduled for a confirmation hearing. Nesheiwat is a New York family physician and former Fox News medical contributor who was involved in a gun accident as a child that led to the death of her father, according to The New York Times.
Also known as “the nation’s doctor,” the surgeon general is a medical doctor who focuses on educating and advising Americans on how to improve their health by issuing advisories, reports and calls to action to offer the best available scientific information on crucial issues.
The removal of the gun violence advisory comes after the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, which was implemented during the Biden administration, apparently ceased operations in January and its website stopped working. The office created the first federal Gun Violence Emergency Response Team, which included the FBI, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies, and coordinated the federal response to mass shootings and community violence.
Dr. Jerome Adams, who was surgeon general during the first Trump administration, said in a news conference Tuesday that firearm injury is a threat to public health.
With more than 48,000 lives lost to firearm-related incidents in previous years, that correlates to about 132 deaths every day, Adams said in a statement, adding that gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people ages 1 to 19.
“If we care about kids and about making America healthy again, we have to address gun violence. More than half of these deaths were due to suicide, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive public health strategies,” Adams wrote, referencing the phrase often repeated by Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, that they will “make America healthy again.”
“I urge policymakers to continue engaging with public health experts, law enforcement, and community leaders to develop evidence-based solutions that prioritize safety and well-being,” Adams wrote. “In particular, we must focus on suicide prevention, supporting veterans, and expanding access to critical resources like the 988 crisis lifeline to ensure that those in distress receive the help they need. I hope that any changes in public health messaging are made with the best interests of the American people in mind.”
The gun violence prevention organization Giffords, named after its founder, former US Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, has criticized the removal of the surgeon general’s gun violence advisory webpage.
“By removing this important public health advisory with lifesaving resources, President Trump has chosen to prioritize gun industry profits over protecting kids and families,” Giffords Executive Director Emma Brown said in a news release Monday. “Guns have been the number one killer of American children and adolescents since 2020, and non-partisan health care experts have understood gun violence as a public health crisis for years.”
