These are the guidelines @NRA was complaining about: Reducing Firearm-Related Injuries and Deaths in the United States: Executive Summary of a Policy Position Paper From the American College of Physicians annals.org/aim/fullarticl… @ACPinternists
1. The American College of Physicians recommends a public health approach to firearms-related violence and the prevention of firearm injuries and deaths.
a. The College supports the development of coalitions that bring different perspectives together on the issues of firearm injury and death.
These groups, comprising health professionals, injury prevention experts, parents, teachers, law enforcement professionals, and others should build consensus for bringing about social and legislative change.
2. The medical profession has a special responsibility to speak out on prevention of firearm-related injuries and deaths, just as physicians have spoken out on other public health issues.
Physicians should counsel patients on the risk of having firearms in the home, particularly when children, adolescents, people with dementia, people with mental illnesses, people with substance use disorders,...
or others who are at increased risk of harming themselves or others are present.
a. State and federal authorities should avoid enactment of mandates that interfere with physician free speech and the patient–physician relationship.
b. Physicians are encouraged to discuss with their patients the risks that may be associated with having a firearm in the home and recommend ways to mitigate such risks, including best practices to reduce injuries and deaths.
c. Physicians should become informed about firearms injury prevention. Medical schools, residency programs, and continuing medical education (CME) programs should incorporate firearm violence prevention into their curricula.
d. Physicians are encouraged, individually and through their professional societies, to advocate for national, state, and local efforts to enact legislation to implement evidence-based policies,...
...including those recommended in this paper, to reduce the risk of preventable injuries and deaths from firearms, including but not limited to universal background checks.
3. The American College of Physicians supports appropriate regulation of the purchase of legal firearms to reduce firearms-related injuries and deaths.
Pay attention @NRA to this one:
The College acknowledges that any such regulations must be consistent with the Supreme Court ruling establishing that individual ownership of firearms is a constitutional right under the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
The College acknowledges that any such regulations must be consistent with the Supreme Court ruling establishing that individual ownership of firearms is a constitutional right under the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
a. Sales of firearms should be subject to satisfactory completion of a criminal background check and proof of satisfactory completion of an appropriate educational program on firearms safety.
The American College of Physicians supports a universal background check system to keep guns out of the hands of felons, persons with mental illnesses that put them at a greater risk of inflicting harm to themselves or others...
... persons with substance use disorders, and others who already are prohibited from owning guns.
Clear guidance should be issued on what mental and substance use records should be submitted to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
This should include guidance on parameters for inclusion, exclusion, removal, and appeal. States should submit mental health records and report persons with substance use disorders to the NICS.
The federal government should increase incentives and penalties related to state compliance. The law requiring federal agencies to submit substance use records should be enforced.
b. Although there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of waiting periods in reducing homicides, waiting periods may reduce the incidence of death by suicide, which account for nearly two thirds of firearm deaths...
... and should be considered as part of a comprehensive approach to reducing preventable firearms-related deaths.
c. Lawmakers should carefully weigh the risks and benefits of concealed-carry legislation prior to passing laws
d. The College supports a ban on firearms that cannot be detected by metal detectors or standard security screening devices.
e. The College favors strong penalties and criminal prosecution for those who sell firearms illegally and those who legally purchase firearms for those who are banned from possessing them (“straw man sales”).
e. The College favors strong penalties and criminal prosecution for those who sell firearms illegally and those who legally purchase firearms for those who are banned from possessing them (“straw man sales”).
4. The American College of Physicians recommends that guns be subject to consumer product regulations regarding access, safety, and design.
In addition, the College supports law enforcement measures, including required use of tracer elements or taggants on ammunition and weapons, and identifying markings, such as serial numbers on weapons, to aid in the identification of weapons used in crimes.
5. Firearm owners should adhere to best practices to reduce the risk of accidental or intentional injuries or deaths from firearms.
They should ensure that their firearms cannot be accessed by children, adolescents, people with dementia, people with mental illnesses or substance use disorders who are at increased risk of harming themselves or others, and others who should not have access to firearms.
Firearm owners should report the theft or loss of their firearm within 72 hours of becoming aware of its loss.
6. The College cautions against broadly including those with mental illness in a category of dangerous individuals.
Instead, the College recommends that every effort be made to reduce the risk of suicide and violence, through prevention and treatment, by the subset of individuals with mental illness who are at risk of harming themselves or others.
Diagnosis, access to care, treatment, and appropriate follow-up are essential.
a. Physicians and other health professionals should be trained to respond to patients with mental illness who might be at risk of injuring themselves or others.
b. Ensuring access to mental health services is imperative. Mental health services should be readily available to persons in need throughout their lives or through the duration of their conditions.
Ensuring an adequate availability of psychiatric beds and outpatient treatment for at-risk persons seeking immediate treatment for a condition that may pose a risk of violence to themselves or others should be a priority.
c. Community understanding of mental illness should be improved to increase awareness and reduce social stigma.
d. Laws that require physicians and other health professionals to report those with mental illness who they believe pose an imminent threat to themselves or others should have safeguards in place to protect confidentiality...
... and not create a disincentive for patients to seek mental health treatment.
Such laws should ensure that physicians and other health professionals are able to use their reasonable professional judgment to determine when a patient under their care should be reported and should not hold them liable for their decision to report or not report.
7. The College favors enactment of legislation to ban the sale and manufacture for civilian use of firearms that have features designed to increase their rapid killing capacity (often called “assault weapons” or semiautomatic weapons)...
... and large-capacity ammunition and retaining the current ban on automatic weapons for civilian use.
Although evidence on the effectiveness of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 is limited, the College believes that there is enough evidence to warrant appropriate legislation and regulation to limit future sales and possession of firearms...
that have features designed to increase their rapid killing capacity and can, along with a ban on large-capacity ammunition magazines, be effective in reducing casualties in mass shooting situations.
Such legislation should be carefully designed to make it difficult for manufacturers to get a semiautomatic firearm exempted from the ban by making modifications in its design while retaining its semiautomatic functionality.
Exceptions to a ban on such semiautomatic firearms for hunting and sporting purposes should be narrowly defined.
8. The College supports efforts to improve and modify firearms to make them as safe as possible, including the incorporation of built-in safety devices (such as trigger locks and signals that indicate a gun is loaded).
Further research is needed on the development of personalized guns.
9. More research is needed on firearm violence and on intervention and prevention strategies to reduce injuries caused by firearms.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute of Justice should receive adequate funding to study the impact of gun violence on the public's health and safety. Access to data should not be restricted.
