Gun violence is a public health crisis, American Medical Association says

The newly adopted policy was announced in the wake of the worst mass shooting in USA history – at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla. – on Sunday that left 49 people dead and 53 wounded. They wrote, “Analysis of prevention measures, such as intervention and counseling by healthcare providers and gun safety improvements, as well as research into the root causes and psychology of gun violence are needed to inform our response.”-the “response” being, if this is a public health issue, an appropriate intervention”. Democrats in both chambers have also introduced legislation that would reverse the ban. While not an official, outright ban, the CDC has interpreted it that way – its administrators have little appetite for hearings or “investigations” from NRA-funded congresspeople – and since then its gun-related research efforts have dwindled to basically nothing.

Five thousand people have been killed with guns so far this year, with over 10,000 injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

However, the AMA and public health advocates have been stymied in their efforts to greater understand the problem continuing to plague America’s schools, movie theaters and clubs because of legislation prohibiting the Centers of Disease Control from doing research.

I’m at the AMA meeting this week in Chicago, and the AAFP and other physician organizations are pledging to do what we can to heal our nation. The so-called “Dickey Amendment”, named for former Rep. Jay Dickey, R-AR, who authored the rider, has since remained in every subsequent annual funding bill.

From the little research that has been conducted on the topic, it’s clear that the United States has a unique crisis of gun violence.

We have no data to tell us about the risk factors associated with gun violence, or the protective factors that guard against it. In fact, sources seem to report mixed messages as to whether or not the CDC is even able to research firearm-related deaths. Ending the ban on research would be a wise first step.

Politicians, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California), have made attempts to strike the gun research stipulation, but have had no luck. Between 1983 and 2013, the United States experienced 78 mass shootings, while 24 other industrialized countries combined experienced 41 mass shootings. The second highest was Switzerland, with 45.7 guns per 100 inhabitants.

The AMA said in 2013 that “uncontrolled ownership and use of firearms, especially handguns, is a serious threat to the public’s health”.

Now the group supports a waiting period before someone can purchase any form of firearm, background checks for all handgun purchasers, stricter enforcement of present federal and state gun safety legislation, and mandated penalties for crimes committed with the use of a firearm, including the illegal possession of a firearm.