As AFN reported earlier this week, Vivek Murthy says "gun violence" has been a growing problem in various communities, especially affecting children, for years.
Alan Gottlieb of the Second Amendment Foundation is outraged and disgusted by that.
"Gun ownership is not a communicable disease," he responds. "it's a constitutional right."
![Gottlieb, Alan (SAF)](/media/knvb5mx1/alang.jpg?anchor=center&mode=crop&width=85&height=125&rnd=133670691049630000&format=png)
In addition to pointing out that shooting a firearm in self-defense is not gun violence, he says gun rights groups like his are adamant about gun safety. They teach about the safe storage of firearms, how to use them safely, how to use them in self-defense situations, and how to keep them away from children.
"Anti-gun owners who claim to be for gun safety never teach anybody to be about safety," Gottlieb observes. "They just teach people about prohibition."
Murthy's first-of-its-kind advisory outlines the "devastating and far-reaching consequences that firearm violence poses to the health and well-being of the country." While it addresses firearm risk and access reduction, it does not cover firearm safety.