crbutler wrote:As a doc, there is no law that states you have to collect that information.
The whole gun violence thing was something that came up out of academia as a way to push an agenda. In fact, the CDC did a study (I think in the early 80's) that was so bad that it got congress to call for cutting their budget and caused no end of concern.
Nowdays, it seems that most of this drivel comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The American Academy of Family Practice tends to go along with it. They still try and push this as "public health" even though none of the studies seem to correlate to much of anything other than someone has to have a gun in order to shoot someone.
Almost all of the major specialty organizations have position statements regarding guns. They are pretty much opposed.
American College of Surgeons:
The following revised Statement on Firearm Injuries was approved in January 2013 by the Officers of the American College of Surgeons and its Board of Regents. It replaces the February 2000 statement that was developed by the Committee on Trauma and approved by the College's Board of Regents—that statement replaced an initial statement addressing firearm injuries developed in 1991.
Because violence inflicted by guns continues to be a daily event in the United States and mass casualties involving firearms threaten the health and safety of the public, the American College of Surgeons supports:
Legislation banning civilian access to assault weapons, large ammunition clips, and munitions designed for military and law enforcement agencies.
Enhancing mandatory background checks for the purchase of firearms to include gun shows and auctions.
Ensuring that health care professionals can fulfill their role in preventing firearm injuries by health screening, patient counseling, and referral to mental health services for those with behavioral medical conditions.
Developing and promoting proactive programs directed at improving safe gun storage and the teaching of non-violent conflict resolution for a culture that often glorifies guns and violence in media and gaming.
Evidence-based research on firearm injury and the creation of a national firearm injury database to inform federal health policy.
The American Academy of Pediatrics:
Firearm-related injuries and deaths can be prevented when guns are stored safely away from children and adolescents in a locked case. Because of the severe, permanent nature of gun injuries in children, the AAP supports the strongest-possible legislative and regulatory approaches to reduce the accessibility of guns to children and adolescents:
Consumer product regulations regarding child access, safety and design of guns
Child access prevention laws that enforce safe storage practices including the use of trigger locks, lock boxes, and gun safes
Regulation of the purchase of guns, including mandatory waiting periods, closure of the gun show loophole, mental health restrictions for gun purchases, and background checks
Restoration of the ban on the sale of assault weapons to the general public
American Academy of Family Practice
The Academy supports strong and robust enforcement of existing federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding the manufacture, sale and possession of guns. Increased efforts to enforce current laws on illegal gun trafficking should have high priority for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
The American Academy of Physicians opposes private ownership of assault weapons.
The Academy strongly supports legislation restricting unsupervised access to both firearms and ammunition by children under 18 years of age.
The Academy supports efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of regulations, interventions, and strategies for preventing injuries and fatalities caused by firearms. (1995) (2011 COD)
American College of Emergency Physicians
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) deplores the improper use of firearms resulting in death and injury. The College supports legislative and public health efforts to prevent firearm-related injuries and deaths.
ACEP endorses efforts to:
•Aggressively enforce current laws against illegal possession, purchase, sale, or use of firearms;
•Ensure that new firearms are rendered as safe as possible through regulation similar to that used for other consumer products;
•Decrease the threat to public safety that results from the widespread availability of assault weapons and high capacity ammunition feeding devices including a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines;•Limit the availability of firearms to those whose ability to responsibly handle a weapon is assured;
•Encourage the creation and evaluation of community and school-based education programs targeting the prevention of firearm injuries;
•Educate the public about the risks of improperly stored firearms, especially in the home;
•Increase funding for the development, evaluation and implementation of evidence based programs and policies to reduce firearm related injury and death;
•Hold individuals legally accountable for harm resulting from unauthorized use of firearms; and
•Work with stakeholders to develop comprehensive strategies to prevent firearm injury and death.
American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychological Association expressed strong support for key components of President Obama’s plan to protect American children and communities by reducing gun violence. APA singled out for praise the president’s specific proposals to:
- increase access to mental health services;
- identify and refer youth and young adults in need of mental health treatment;
- train more psychologists and other mental health professionals;
- end the freeze on gun violence research;
- require criminal background checks for all gun sales; and
- ensure that health insurance plans offer mental health benefits at parity.
