On Tuesday the American Medical Association addressed a persistent and deadly U.S. public health menace, and officially endorsed firearms safety measures, including:
- Minimum age requirement of 21 to own or buy guns and ammo
- Licensing and safety course requirements for gun owners
- Registration requirements for all firearms
- Closing loopholes allowing people with history of domestic abuse and stalking to buy or own guns
- Allow courts, upon a relative’s request, to remove guns from homes in which a person is imminently violent or suicidal
- Better training of doctors on screening suicide risk
This is an attempt by physicians to stem a growing public health danger:
“AMA members cited U.S. government data showing almost 40,000 deaths by gun in 2016, including suicides, and nearly 111,000 gun injuries. Both have been rising in recent years.
By comparison, U.S. deaths from diabetes in 2016 totaled almost 80,000; Alzheimer’s, 111,000; and lung disease, 155,000. The leaders are heart disease, with 634,000 deaths in 2016, and cancer, about 600,000.”
— “Frustrated AMA adopts sweeping policies to cut gun violence,” Lindsey Tanner, AP via Chicago Tribune
More:
“The country’s largest doctor group just took its most aggressive stance on gun control yet,” German Lopez, Vox
Related:
“Congressional staffers are learning how to treat gunshot wounds,” Summer Meza, The Week
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