On February 22, the American Academy of Family Physicians signed a joint letter, along with 74 health and medical organizations, requesting bipartisan gun safety solutions, including federal research and a stronger federal firearm background check system, in response to recent mass shootings.
Earlier in February, the AAFP joined the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, and the American Psychiatric Association in demanding President Donald Trump and Congress take action to reduce gun violence as a public health threat. Following the shooting deaths of 17 children and adults at a Parkland, FL, high school, the groups issued the following statement:
“We urge our national leaders to recognize in this moment what the medical community has long understood: We must treat this epidemic no differently than we would any other pervasive threat to public health. We must identify the causes and take evidence-based approaches to prevent future suffering.”
“The families of the victims in Parkland and all those whose lives have been impacted by daily acts of gun violence deserve more than our thoughts and prayers. They need action from the highest levels of our government to stop this epidemic of gun violence now.”
The attack in Parkland was the latest incident in a public health epidemic that adversely affects patients as it continues to increase in frequency and lethality. And although mass killings draw the most public attention, this epidemic of gun violence puts “far too many Americans” at daily risk for suicide, homicide, and unintentional injury.
- Label violence caused by the use of guns as a national public health epidemic
- Fund appropriate research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the 2018 federal budget
- Establish constitutionally appropriate restrictions on the manufacturing and sale, for civilian use, of large-capacity magazines and firearms with features designed to increase their rapid and extended killing capacity.