The Health Department & Human Services (HHS) seems to have eliminated a website of the General Surgeon Office (OSG) that included a warning about armed violence.
In June 2024, then the then American surgeon Vivek Murthy issued an advice that declared that armed violence is a public health crisis in the United States, asking for an evidence -based approach to the change of public health, as well as a prohibition of assault weapons and magazines of great capacity for civil use.
“The violence of firearms is an urgent public health crisis that has led to the loss of lives, unimaginable pain and deep pain for too many Americans,” Murthy said in a statement at that time.
The OSG issued a press release at that time that shows that at least 10 national medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Surgeon College, the American Public Health Association and the YWCA, wrote statements in support of the notice.
However, the Website where the notice existed He currently shows a “page not found” message.
Dr. Vivek H. Murthy speaks on stage at the “Summit of Parents of the Archewell Foundation: Mental Welfare in a digital era” in Hudson Yards, on October 10, 2023, in New York.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
“We feel it, but there is no page www.hhs.gov that matches its entrance. Possible reasons: the page may have moved, it no longer exists or the address may have been written incorrectly,” says the website, starting Monday.
The White House did not immediately respond to the request for comments from ABC News.
In a statement to ABC News, the HHS said the department “and the Office of the General Surgeon comply with President Trump’s executive order on the protection of the rights of the second amendment.”
Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive orderordering the attorney general to review “[a]LL Presidential and the actions of the agencies from January 2021 to January 2025 that seek to promote security, but may have affected the rights of the second amendment of the respectful citizens of the law. “
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants to determine the cause of mass shootings.
In a 2023 live broadcast in X with Elon Musk, Kennedy falsely said that there is a “tremendous circumstantial evidence” that people who use antidepressants were more likely to commit school shootings. Previously, experts told ABC News that there is no evidence to suggest that patients with mental health disorders, or those who receive medications for disorders, are more likely to be violent.
Injuries related to firearms are the main cause of death in the United States between children and adolescents. Suicides related to weapons have increased among all age groups from 2012 to 2022; The greatest increase has been between 10 and 14 years, according to Murhty’s advice.
Armed violence prevention programs, such as Giffords, which was founded by former congressman Gabrielle Giffords, criticized the Trump administration for the elimination of the notice.
“By eliminating this important public health notice with resources that save lives, President Trump has chosen to prioritize the profits of the arms industry on the protection of children and families,” said Emma Brown, executive director of Giffords, in a statement. “Weapons have been the number one murderer of American children and adolescents since 2020, and non -partisan medical care experts have understood armed violence as a public health crisis for years.”
Dr. Jade Cobern of the ABC News Medical Unit contributed to this report.
