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(CNN)For the first time in decades, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- the nation's top public health agency -- is speaking out forcefully about gun violence in America, calling it a "serious public health threat."
"Something has to be done about this," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "Now is the time -- it's pedal to the metal time."
This summer alone has seen a spree of gun injuries and deaths, and the weekends have been especially violent, with an average of 200 people killed and 472 injured by guns each weekend in the United States, not including suicides, according to an analysis done by the Gun Violence Archive for CNN. That's nearly 3.4 people shot every hour every weekend.
"The scope of the problem is just bigger than we're even hearing about, and when your heart wrenches every day you turn on the news, you're only hearing the tip of the iceberg," Walensky said. "We haven't spent the time, energy and frankly the resources to understand this problem because it's been so divided."
The last sitting CDC director to make strong public statements about gun violence was Dr. David Satcher, who served in the position from 1993 to 1998.
The National Rifle Association is a powerful lobbying force in Washington, and fearing Congressional budget cuts under NRA pressure, former CDC directors for decades were all but silent on gun violence, even as guns killed tens of thousands of Americans a year.
Satcher said Walensky was brave for speaking out.
"This might mean -- could well mean -- taking some risks, so I salute Dr. Walensky," Satcher said.
www.cnn.com
What a crappy article and video - but we need to see what they say.
(CNN)For the first time in decades, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- the nation's top public health agency -- is speaking out forcefully about gun violence in America, calling it a "serious public health threat."
"Something has to be done about this," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in an exclusive interview with CNN. "Now is the time -- it's pedal to the metal time."
This summer alone has seen a spree of gun injuries and deaths, and the weekends have been especially violent, with an average of 200 people killed and 472 injured by guns each weekend in the United States, not including suicides, according to an analysis done by the Gun Violence Archive for CNN. That's nearly 3.4 people shot every hour every weekend.
"The scope of the problem is just bigger than we're even hearing about, and when your heart wrenches every day you turn on the news, you're only hearing the tip of the iceberg," Walensky said. "We haven't spent the time, energy and frankly the resources to understand this problem because it's been so divided."
The last sitting CDC director to make strong public statements about gun violence was Dr. David Satcher, who served in the position from 1993 to 1998.
The National Rifle Association is a powerful lobbying force in Washington, and fearing Congressional budget cuts under NRA pressure, former CDC directors for decades were all but silent on gun violence, even as guns killed tens of thousands of Americans a year.
Satcher said Walensky was brave for speaking out.
"This might mean -- could well mean -- taking some risks, so I salute Dr. Walensky," Satcher said.
The CDC's plan
Continues...
'Something has to be done': After decades of near-silence from the CDC, the agency's director is speaking up about gun violence
For the first time in decades, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- the nation's top public health agency -- is speaking out forcefully about gun violence in America, calling it a "serious public health threat."
What a crappy article and video - but we need to see what they say.
