In a recent opinion piece, the president of the American Medical Association, Jack Resneck, M.D. asserts that 2 recent shootings support an urgent need to end “firearm violence”. Dr. Resneck seems little aware of doctors’ falling into the  trap of being unduly influenced by their most recent patient. He goes on to state that “gun […]

The September 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association contains a dozen or so articles discussing deaths associated with firearm use. Anti-Second Amendment bias is clearly present. The cover pictures a semi-automatic pistol and some bullets; they missed an opportunity to show a Minuteman fighting for his country. A piece by Rita […]

“Red flag Laws”, which allow police to seize the firearms of people accused of being at risk to misuse them, have been passed in 19 states. Do they do what proponents say they do? A recent study by Veronica Pear, PhD and Garen Wintemute, MD, and co-authors says the answer is clearly, “No”. It appeared […]

In a recent Research Letter in the Journal of the American Medical Association (“Knowledge of State Gun Laws Among US Adults in Gun-Owning Households”) Ali Rowhani-Rahbar MD et al present data regarding knowledge of state firearms laws. Specifically, they assess the knowledge possessed by adults living in “gun-owning households” as to these state laws. They […]

On October 25, an article appeared in ABC news online written by Ivan Pereira, who believes he sees that America has a problem with “gun violence” (“America has a gun violence problem. What do we do about it?”). There is little to recommend this piece, but he does make one good point when he refers […]

In a current Journal of the American Medical Association article with an accompanying editorial, various researchers express their happiness with  the resumption of federal funding for the Center for Disease control to look at violence, including “gun violence” (because “guns kill people”?!). They feel good about the lessening “chill” of the Dickey Amendment’s prohibition against […]

Reaching as high as he can, the prisoner grabs the bars on his dungeon’s window. He pulls himself up, looks out, and sees a broad vista of hills, lakes, forests, fields and villages. But he can only hold this position for a moment, and then slides back into the dim light and dank walls of […]

A recent editorial by Branas and associates appeared in JAMA Psychiatry: “Beyond Gun Laws—Innovative Interventions to Reduce Gun Violence in the United States”. They give a bit of a positive message—interpersonal interventions to reduce violence can be helpful. The authors cite a review from the sociology literature finding that starting small, local organizations focused on […]