04-24-2017, 01:53 PM
Quote:The full reasons for the Trump administration’s request that he step down aren’t clear. But one clue may lie in Murthy’s views on gun control. These views were immediately apparent after President Obama nominated him to the post and the National Rifle Association circulated a letter opposing his confirmation. The NRA was incensed by a 2013 letter from health professionals that Murthy signed that called “for Congress to pass stronger gun legislation immediately and for us to develop a comprehensive national plan to stop gun violence.” The letter proposed a goal of cutting gun deaths in half by 2020 and laid out some policy proposals to get there. The Senate blocked his nomination for more than a year, which meant the country had no surgeon general during the Ebola crisis. More recently, in an interview with STAT during the presidential campaign, Murthy reiterated the view that gun violence is a public health issue and said “far too many people die from gun violence,” adding, “And in my book, every single death from gun violence is a tragedy because it was preventable.””Trump abruptly asks pro-gun control surgeon general to resign