This is my lane

The American College of Physicians created a position paper in which they outline their public health approach to reducing deaths and injuries from firearms. The shooting at a Synagogue in Pittsburgh made the news as did the shooting at a bar in Thousand Oaks. They were about ten days apart. What didn’t get much coverage was the mass shootings – four or more deaths – averaging one a day in between (and probably since).

But the NRA didn’t like the recommendations from the ACP. They tweeted:

Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane. Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves.

That definitely stirred up the doctors, who tweeted a flurry of rebuttals that, alas, are rather graphic (the link above includes them). Some of what they wrote:

Dr. Esther Choo: “We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients. We consult with everyone but extremists.”

Dr. Jeannie Moorjani: “I would like to graciously extend the invitation to the author of this tweet and anyone else from the NRA to join me at the hospital the next time I care for a child who has been hurt or killed by a gun that wasn't safely stored or was an innocent bystander.”

Dr. Judy Melinek: “Do you have any idea how many bullets I pull out of corpses weekly? This isn't just my lane. It's my f****** highway.”

Dr. Stephanie Bonne: “Wanna see my lane? Here’s the chair I sit in when I tell parents their kids are dead. How dare you tell me I can’t research evidence based solutions.”

The NRA, always persistent, complained that the studies in their paper don’t really have “evidence.”

The ACP responded where evidence is limited, we say so. All our recommendations were reviewed and approved by our health policy committee, which includes gun owners.

In addition, the NRA is the reason why there isn’t much evidence. A 1996 law prevents the CDC from advocating or promoting gun control. Dr. Melinek says, “What we are against is not researching…”