Gun Control Advocacy at Ole Miss Medical School?

I was interviewed for this article about guns and public health in the latest issue of CenterView, a publication of the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I like the quote, “…here in the South, where the Second Amendment looms like an Eleventh
 Commandment.”  But what’s worrisome is two trauma surgeons quoted as being on board with the “guns are a public health problem” meme.

I remember treating trauma patients, including many gunshot wounds in my career.  Trauma surgeons don’t see the hundreds of thousands of people who never come into their operating rooms because they displayed a gun to scare away a violent criminal.  They only see the injured victims, who are most often criminals themselves. Many are repeat trauma victims as well as repeat criminal offenders. No wonder these doctors have a jaundiced view of guns, but that’s no excuse for ignorance.

These trauma surgeons only see one side of the issue. They need to get out of the O.R. more and read about good people doing good things with their guns, like using them to defend their families.

 

Dr. Tim Wheeler

—Timothy Wheeler, MD is director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, a project of the Second Amendment Foundation. 

All DRGO articles by Timothy Wheeler, MD