U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Tuesday declared gun violence a public health emergency and called on state and federal policymakers to take action.

“People want to be able to walk through their neighborhoods and be safe,” Murthy told the Associated Press. “America should be a place where all of us can go to school, go to work, go to the supermarket, go to our house of worship, without having to worry that that’s going to put our life at risk.”

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Murthy called for Congress to take action by banning automatic rifles, introducing universal background checks for purchasing guns, further regulating the industry, restricting gun use in public spaces, and penalizing improper storage.

This is a developing story.