Massachusetts Doctors Fight Deadly Disease of “Gun Violence”

By Timothy Wheeler, MD

The public health world is oblivious to the rapid evolution of firearm policy in the last 20 years. It continues to spin gun ownership as a disease, even as public opinion, legislation, and federal court decisions have with few exceptions only advanced the right to keep and bear arms. Last weekend in Massachusetts a group of gun control-friendly health policy types convened a continuing medical education conference for doctors titled “Caring for Patients at Risk for Gun Violence Medical, Legal & Ethical Issues”.

Speakers included former American Academy of Pediatrics Dr. Judith Palfrey, former AMA president Dr. Robert McAfee, and long-time anti-gun rights advocacy researcher David Hemenway. Each of these three is notable for having taken public and very passionate stands against gun rights. We reviewed Palfrey’s error-riddled CNN article some time ago in the Herald-Tribune’s blog The Gun Writer.

Boston’s NPR station WBUR covered the conference, and reporter Martha Bebinger interviewed me for DRGO’s perspective. Her story is here (text and audio).

The public health community seems unconcerned that the rest of America sees its weird, forced metaphor of “guns are a virus that must be eliminated” for what it is—a transparent attempt to ban gun ownership.

Dr. Tim Wheeler

—Timothy Wheeler, MD is director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, a project of the Second Amendment Foundation.

All DRGO articles by Timothy Wheeler, MD.