Dr Anthony Fauci on gun violence: ‘How can you say it’s not a matter of public health?’

Dr Anthony Fauci on gun violence: ‘How can you say it’s not a matter of public health?’

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“If you’re in public health care I think you can not run away from it. If you see people being killed, it’s been scary what’s happened in this last month. How can you say it’s not a public health problem? not?” he told CNN’s Dana Bash on ‘State of the Union’ when asked if gun violence is a public health emergency.

Fauci’s comments come after a result of mass shootings last month. According to CNN reporting and an analysis of data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), local media and police reports, the U.S. has suffered at least 45 mass shootings since March 16, when eight people were killed in three spas in Atlanta areas. . CNN views an incident as a mass shooting when four or more people, with the exception of the gunman, were wounded or killed by gunfire.

“It’s not always this mass shooting that takes place – every day, every day there is a mass shooting in the United States if you count everyone who is killed in the streets of our cities and our rural areas,” Biden said. said Friday during a joint press conference in the Rose House Garden with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. “This is a national embarrassment and must come to an end.”

In March, the Democratic House passed two arms reform bills that would expand background checks, including one that would require checks for all sales and transfers, including between private parties, on weapons and on the Internet. The legislation got stuck in the Senate and Connecticut Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, both Democrats, reached out to Republicans to see if there could be any support for gun legislation that could reach 60 votes in the House needed.

Both senators have acknowledged that they will have to scrap the House law because they face opposition from Republican senators and the skepticism of moderate Democrats. Murphy told reporters on Wednesday he was even prepared to pass a narrower bill to get the 60 votes.

California Representative Karen Bass agrees with Biden that gun violence in the U.S. is an ’embarrassment’ in a separate interview with Bash on Sunday and said she would support a narrower bill to pass the legislation with Republican support.

“The bills that have passed the House are bills that are supported by the majority of the country, including Republicans, including gun owners,” she said. “So there is no reason not to pass the legislation.”

The debate over gun control legislation comes as additional pressure on Biden and members of Congress increases to show that they are also committed to holding police officers responsible for misconduct, excessive violence and negligence almost a year after the murder of George Floyd .

Bass on Sunday acknowledged the rising climb for the legal reform of the Senate police.

“It’s one thing to pass legislation in the House. It’s a big obstacle to making it pass in the Senate,” she said. “We have to come up with a solution. We just can not see it happening to the extent that it is happening now.”

This story was updated on Sunday with additional details.

CNN’s Madeline Holcombe, DJ Judd, Jessica Dena and Manu Raju contributed to this report.

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