Point of View: NRA Does Not Have Firearms Lane

The arrogance of the National Rifle Association has struck a nerve recently by blaming doctors for daring to assert the obvious: gun violence in America is a public health crisis.

"Someone should tell the anti-gun doctors who are so important to stay in their hallway," tweeted the NRA last Thursday. "Half of Annals of Internal Medicine's articles insist on gun control. The most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted with anyone other than themselves. "

We do not know in what "way" exactly, the NRA should stay: carelessness? cynicism? – but there is no question that doctors should have a say in the firearms debate.

The senseless violence – not to mention the suicides and accidental shooting – brought about by firearms is part of the argument that the RNA and its supporters choose to conveniently minimize or ignore outright. Instead, they mockingly attack and insult information from anyone who points out the obvious: gun violence is a public health problem.

This time, it's a position paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine that created the Firearms Rights Group. Ironically, the American College of Physicians document, which describes ways to prevent gun violence, advocated the creation of coalitions between people with different perspectives.

Obviously, the NRA does not want to work with people who have different points of view.

Doctors immediately applauded the NRA, and rightly so. The first thing they did was to resume their path.

Dr. Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, has launched a Twitter campaign including the @ThisIsOurLane account. Dr. Sakran wanted to become a surgeon when, as a teenager, he was shot in the neck after a football match. It took a tracheostomy and six months of surgeries for him to breathe and talk again. Doctors have posted horrific pictures of bloody scrubs and gunshot wounds to get back to their Twitter account.

The animosity of the NRA towards doctors and the medical community is not new. It has been more than two decades since a powerful pressure group on guns has led to a law preventing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using the money to "defend or promote control firearms". impact of armed violence.

The medical community has continued to fight the gun lobby effectively, which probably explains why the NRA has been so trying. Fortunately, their last response may have had the opposite effect and instead strengthened the group's cohesive medical community.

Editorial of The Baltimore Sun

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