A number of national media have recently given attention to a report titled Urban–Rural Differences in Suicide in the State of Maryland: The Role of Firearms published this month by the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH). The conclusion being drawn from this publication is that gun-related suicides may be more common in rural than in urban areas. This paper, not published in printed form, by Johns Hopkins academics has been made available online – for a fee. The the authors say thei...

Gianni Pirrelli, PhD is a licensed New Jersey clinical psychologist and a friend of DRGO. He has shown sympathy for folks whose firearms have been confiscated and are trying to convince government that they are actually safe and responsible and deserve them to be returned. The subject for Dr. Pirelli and his co-author Philip Witt, PhD, a forensic psychologist, in this new paper is the culture of firearms ownership.  It was just published in the Journal of Aggression, Conflict and Peace Re...

[Ed: How one delivers information can determine reception even more than the content.  Dr. Shaver shares his expertise here about how to do that well. It is beyond sad then to report that Ron suddenly passed away since our last contact just two days ago. He was looking forward to our publishing this today, and so we shall. Our prayers and best wishes go to his family now.] As a health care professional with an interest and expertise in firearms and the Second Amendment, you may be calle...

According to all of the junk mail I have been receiving lately, the American Academy of Pediatric’s annual meeting is taking place next month in—wait for it—Chicago! That's right, one of the most rabid anti-gun medical organizations is holding their national meeting in one of the most rabid anti-gun—yet rife-with-murder—cities in the U. S. One of the headlining addresses they are advertising for the meeting on Sunday is "Gun Safety: An American Crisis” by Gary Wheeler, MD, MPS, FAAP--C...

Cities such as Chicago and New York apparently have a gun control problem. Their extensive array of gun control laws continues to fail to prevent violent gun crime. However, there is a constant drone from lawmakers in such states to enact even more restrictive laws and make guns harder to acquire.  The laws in place do just that but, sadly, the law-abiding citizenry are encumbered, and not criminal. (more…)

"I think what we have to do is separate the tool from the perpetrator. Cars are not a public health problem. Car accidents are a public health problem. Guns and gun owners aren't inherently a public health problem but the violence itself absolutely is." That’s what Dr. Jerome Adams, Indiana’s Public Health Commissioner and President Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General said August 1 at his hearing at the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.  (more…)

A variety of authorities such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the World Health Organization (WHO), the UK Food Standards Agency, as well as the Centers for Disease Control warn that there is no known level of lead exposure that is considered safe. If true, then literally any exposure to lead should be hazardous. These authorities warn that blood lead levels (BLL) even lower than 5 micrograms per deciliter are a matter of serious concern. Scientists confidently assert that using...

[Ed: New writer Wesley Horton, RN has seen it all and doesn't want to see any more of it.] Cities such as Chicago and New York apparently have a gun control problem. Their extensive array of gun control laws continues to fail to prevent violent gun crime. However, there is a constant drone from lawmakers in such states to enact even more restrictive laws and make guns harder to acquire.  The laws in place do just that but, sadly, the law-abiding citizenry are encumbered, and not criminals...