Per 8 Aug Medscape, quote:
Seven leading healthcare organizations on Wednesday published a call to action to reduce firearm injuries and deaths in the United States in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Public Health Association call for the following in a new policy paper:
Mandatory comprehensive criminal background checks for all firearm purchases, including sales by dealers, at gun shows, private sales, and transfers with limited exceptions
Research into the causes and consequences of firearm violence to help identify, test, and put in place strategies to reduce injuries and deaths
Closing the "boyfriend loophole." Currently, federal law prohibits domestic abusers from accessing firearms only if they are spouses and not dating partners. [boyfriend loophole? really?]
The groups also call for:
Instituting extreme risk protection order (ERPO) or "red flag" laws, which allow families and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove firearms from people at imminent risk of using them on themselves or others. Such laws should be enacted with due process in mind, the authors caution.
Allowing physicians to counsel at-risk patients about firearms safety in the home. The physicians oppose laws that forbid physicians from discussing a patient's firearm ownership. Physicians must also be able to document the conversations in the electronic health record just as they can and often are required to do with other discussions that can affect health, the authors add.
Scrutinizing and addressing the regulation of firearms with features designed to increase the speed and capacity of mass violence.
Supporting child access prevention laws that hold accountable firearm owners who negligently store firearms in a way that could allow minors access. "These laws are associated with a reduction of suicides and unintentional firearm injuries and fatalities among children," the authors write. unquote
sigh...
Seven leading healthcare organizations on Wednesday published a call to action to reduce firearm injuries and deaths in the United States in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The American College of Physicians (ACP), the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Surgeons, the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Public Health Association call for the following in a new policy paper:
Mandatory comprehensive criminal background checks for all firearm purchases, including sales by dealers, at gun shows, private sales, and transfers with limited exceptions
Research into the causes and consequences of firearm violence to help identify, test, and put in place strategies to reduce injuries and deaths
Closing the "boyfriend loophole." Currently, federal law prohibits domestic abusers from accessing firearms only if they are spouses and not dating partners. [boyfriend loophole? really?]
The groups also call for:
Instituting extreme risk protection order (ERPO) or "red flag" laws, which allow families and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove firearms from people at imminent risk of using them on themselves or others. Such laws should be enacted with due process in mind, the authors caution.
Allowing physicians to counsel at-risk patients about firearms safety in the home. The physicians oppose laws that forbid physicians from discussing a patient's firearm ownership. Physicians must also be able to document the conversations in the electronic health record just as they can and often are required to do with other discussions that can affect health, the authors add.
Scrutinizing and addressing the regulation of firearms with features designed to increase the speed and capacity of mass violence.
Supporting child access prevention laws that hold accountable firearm owners who negligently store firearms in a way that could allow minors access. "These laws are associated with a reduction of suicides and unintentional firearm injuries and fatalities among children," the authors write. unquote
sigh...