 On Tuesday, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the US Surgeon General, declared that gun violence is a public health crisis in the United States due to the increasing number of deaths caused by firearms each year. Murthy has called on the US to ban automatic rifles, introduce universal background checks, pass stricter gun laws, and penalize people who do not properly store their weapons. Murthy's statements have been controversial among politicians and were rebuked by the National Rifle Association.