We’re taking a stand against gun violence.
“Just as physicians worked to safeguard public health by promoting smoking bans in public places, we should draw on similar motivations and strategies to promote sensible, evidence-based laws to decrease the harms associated with gun violence.
It is our responsibility to do so.”
~ Christine Laine, MD, Editor in Chief and Deputy Editors of Annals of Internal Medicine
Mission Statement
Doctors 4 Gun Safety is committed to the premise that gun violence represents a public health crisis in the United States. As physicians we serve as advocates for the nation’s health. We are in a unique position to both identify and treat those at high risk for, or victimized by, violence.
Our goal is to use education, research and advocacy as methods to achieve safe and responsible gun ownership and use.
We are interested in forming an evidenced-based policy related to gun ownership. We recognize that gun violence is a multifactorial problem and we welcome the knowledge of law enforcement and experienced and responsible gun owners.
The prevention of unnecessary suffering, morbidity and mortality related to inappropriate gun access is a core value of our organization.
We recognize the need for the medical profession to be a part of the dialogue centered on protecting ourselves, our children, our patients and our fellow citizens.
Specific areas of concern and focus include:
Who We Are
We are a grassroots organization of doctors who believe that gun violence in the U.S. is a public health crisis.
We are not affiliated with any political party.
As physicians, we feel obligated not only to participate in the treatment of individuals, but to assume a leadership role in the resolution of the gun violence epidemic.
What You Can Do Now
“The SAFE Act stops criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying a gun by requiring universal background checks on gun purchases, increases penalties for people who use illegal guns, mandates life in prison without parole for anyone who murders a first responder, and imposes the toughest assault weapons ban in the country. For hunters, sportsmen, and law-abiding gun owners, this new law preserves and protects your right to buy, sell, keep or use your guns.” – Governor Andrew Cuomo
Within the Act, MHL 9.46 requires mental health professionals (physicians (including psychiatrists), psychologists, registered nurses, or licensed clinical social workers) to report to their local director of community services (“DCS”) or his/her designees when, in their reasonable professional judgment, one of their patients is “likely to engage in conduct that would result in serious harm to self or others.” For more information, please visit https://safeact.ny.gov/mental-health-faq.
FROM: American Psychiatric Association’s Psych News Alert – November 20, 2018
Reducing Firearm Deaths Requires Greater Attention to Suicide Prevention
Mental health advocates must work to ensure that suicide is front and center of conversations about gun violence, Jeffrey Swanson, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at Duke University, wrote in a commentaryin Psychiatric Services. Swanson is an expert in the epidemiology of gun violence.
“The national conversation about gun violence tends to focus on senseless rampages by troubled young men while public officials pay lip service to an oversimplified, gun-ignoring solution: ‘fix mental health’,” Swanson noted. However, “suicide is a public health problem that is twice the size of the homicide problem—13.4 versus 6.1 deaths per 100,000 people in 2016, and the number of suicide decedents dwarfs the number of mass shooting victims.”
CLICK HERE for Full Article
FROM: American Psychiatric Association’s Psych News Alert – October 30, 2018
What Can Physicians Do to Prevent Firearm Violence?
Physicians should routinely ask patients about firearms in their home and whether guns are locked and safely stored, writes James S. Kahn, M.D., a professor of medicine at Stanford University, in an editorial published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The editorial was published alongside a position paper from the American College of Physicians on reducing firearm injuries and deaths in the United States.
“Firearm-related violent death is an extraordinary problem made even more alarming by the prevalence of guns in the households of persons with dementia and the variation in firearm injuries related to racial disparities,” Kahn writes. “Yet, many physicians have been unengaged or silent during this epidemic. Why? Perhaps we think firearm violence is outside our realm of influence.”
Yet Kahn says physicians routinely ask patients about their unsafe activities, risky exposures, and addictions.
CLICK HERE for Full Article
FROM: American Psychiatric Association’s Psychiatric News
Talking About Firearms With Patients Necessary, But Examine Your Beliefs First
It’s a conversation in which physicians have a responsibility to engage, and it requires more than simply asking “Do you have a gun or not?,” said psychiatrist James Curtis West, M.D., at APA’s 2018 Annual Meeting last month in the symposium “Patients and Personal Firearms: Approaches to the Physician-Patient Conversation to Reduce Risk.”
“Firearm ownership is prevalent and increases the risk for death and injury,” West said. “Our obligation is to communicate effective harm-reduction strategies to patients. This is best achieved through culturally competent, evidence-based intervention.”
CLICK HERE for Full Article
https://ballotpedia.org/Who_represents_me
“The vast majority of Americans have never contacted their elected officials about anything. Americans are comfortable leaving comments on social media, calling in to talk radio shows, signing petitions and even writing letters to the editor of their local paper, but they rarely pick up the phone and call their own representatives. That’s why these calls have such an impact. It’s not because callers are especially articulate, knowledgeable or important; it’s because the offices fielding the calls know that every caller represents a huge number of like-minded constituents who were personally reluctant to make direct contact.” – National Physicians Alliance – To read more, visit: NPAlliance.org
Federal and state elections in the United States are run by the states themselves, according to Article I and Article II of the Constitution. No two states run their elections exactly the same, so contacting your state or local election office is the best way to find out about your state’s unique election rules.
Keep abreast of the issues and your local candidates prior to voting. The League of Women Voters of New York State hosts local Meet the Candidate Nights in communities across the state. For a full calendar of their events, visit https://my.lwv.org/new-york-state/2018-candidate-debates-calendar
Take Action Workshop – How to Choose a Candidate
Prior to the Huntington, NY Meet the Candidates Night, the League of Women Voters of Huntington will conduct a Take Action Workshop from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and also prior to the event at Harborfields Public Library. Learn from the League how to weigh campaign news and research information to decide which candidate will best represent you on the issues that are important to you. Consistent with the League’s nonpartisan policy, no aspect of the training will support or oppose a candidate for office or a political party. Seating is limited but registration is open to everyone.
For more information about the Meet the Candidates Night or to register for the Take Action Workshop, please contact Colette Knuth, President, League of Women Voters of Huntington at LWVHuntingtonNY@gmail.com
Wednesday, October 10
- 7:00pm – LWV Huntington: Meet the Candidates – NY STATE
- 7:00pm – LWV Nassau Candidate Forum: General Election NY Assembly and Senate
Thursday, October 11
- 7:00pm – LWV East Nassau: Meet the Candidates for NY Senate and Assembly
Monday, October 15
- 7:00pm – LWV/American Association Pediatrics Children’s Policy Candidate Forum Senate District 5
Thursday, October 18
- 6:30pm – Putnam County Meet the Candidates – General Election
- 7:00pm – LWV Port Washington-Manhasset Candidate Forum
- 7:00pm – LWV Cazenovia: Candidate Forum State Senate 53 & Assembly 121
- 7:00pm – LWV Saratoga – Meet the Candidates Congressional District 18
Monday, October 22
- 6:30pm – Putnam County Meet the Candidates – General Election
- 7:00pm – LWV East Nassau: Candidates Night for Congressional District 2
- 7:00pm – LWV Huntington: Meet the Candidates Huntington Township
- 7:00pm – LWV Long Beach: Candidate Forum for Assembly District 20 and Senate District 9
Tuesday, October 23
- 7:00pm – LWV Schenectady – Candidates Night for County Clerk and Village Seats
- 7:00pm – LWV White Plains: Candidate Forums Assembly District 93
- 7:00pm – Chautauqua County Meet the Candidates – Assembly and County Sheriff
- 7:00pm – LWV Nassau Candidate Forum: General Election Candidates for Assembly and Senate
Wednesday, October 24
- 7:00pm – LWV/Huntington Meet the Candidates Night – State and Local General Election
Thursday, October 25
- 7:00pm – LWV/Huntington: Meet the Candidates US Congressional
Sunday, October 28
- 2:00pm – LWV Rockland County: Candidate Debates 38th Senate District, 97 and 98 Assembly Districts
Monday, October 29
- 7:00pm – LWV Schenectady & Saratoga – Candidates Night NY Senate District 49
Tuesday, October 30
- 7:00pm – LWV of Capital Region – Candidate Night for Congressional District 20
- 7:00pm – Chautauqua Meet the Candidates Nights – Assembly and County Sheriff
Thursday, November 1
- 8:00pm – LWV Broome Tioga – Candidate Debate Congressional District 22
Gun Facts
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We have applied for and are currently awaiting notification of our official 501 (c) 3 Not-for-Profit status from the IRS.
Please join our organization’s mailing list and we will notify you immediately by email when we receive it.
All Official Members and Friends of Doctors 4 Gun Safety are asked to support our efforts with an annual donation of $25 or more to help us offset communication and organization costs. Donation checks should be payable to:
Doctors 4 Gun Safety
P.O. Box 567
Manhasset, NY 11030
JOIN AS A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
We welcome any physician, physician-in-training, or healthcare professional in the U.S. who shares our beliefs and wishes to help us work toward gun safety and responsible gun ownership.