Centers for DISEASE Control should stick to studying diseases. NIOSH is largely a waste of money that could be better spent on real science. Malaria research > useless reports on how kids who accidentally shoot themselves are more likely to die from gun violence than kids who do not.
America is suffering an epidemic of gun violence. On average, a Mandalay Bay's worth of people kill themselves with a gun every day. Another 25 are killed by someone else with a gun.
Epidemic. Noun. A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
Gun violence is not a disease. CDC should stick to infectious diseases.
Oxford English Dictionary:
1.1. A sudden, widespread occurrence of an undesirable phenomenon.
‘an epidemic of violent crime’
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/epidemic
Maybe we should have a separate department just for metaphorical epidemics.