Gun Violence May Be Declared A Public Health Crisis By Pittman

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — The Anne Arundel County Gun Violence Prevention Task Force has released 30 recommendations that include supporting gun control legislation, increasing education and awareness, and offering additional mental health resources for students. In light of these initial recommendations, some believe Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman will declare gun violence a public health crisis in January.

Pittman told WAMU he’s spoken to several county council members who said they would support such a measure.

“People are fed up. They’re fed up with being told they cannot do anything about this problem because gun manufacturers don’t want them to. So we’re changing that,” said Pittman.

The state medical examiner’s office reported 209 gun-related deaths between 2013 and 2017 in the county. An estimated two-thirds of those deaths were ruled suicides and nearly one-third were homicides. In 2018, there were almost 300 gun-related violent incidents in the county, according to the task force’s findings.

“People question why a local government would be even doing a gun violence prevention task force,” said Pittman, who said he owns a gun himself. “The answer is pretty clear in this report that there are a lot of directions we can come at this from.”

Pittman explained that he intends to handle gun violence in the same manner in which Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan addressed the opioid crisis in 2017. Hogan declared a state of emergency and established $50 million in a five-year period to law enforcement and for treatment services. Hogan also created a task force to write recommendations.