Bindu Kalesan, an assistant professor of medicine and strident foe of firearm civil rights (more about that later) at Boston University, has crashed onto the public health anti-gun rights advocacy scene.  Kalesan is the lead author on an already-disputed article just published in The Lancet, claiming that passage of more gun control laws could reduce gun deaths.  Her ideological allies in major media have trumpeted, prematurely it turns out, her legislative prescription with headline-friendl...

DRGO is your organization. Our leadership and regular blog contributors have no monopoly on saying smart things about important subjects. Our members, supporters and readers of this blog also have a great deal to bring to the idea table. In this case, a reader named Gary sent us the following email in which he likens the benefit to social order of firearm ownership and the right to carry to the use of antibiotics and sanitizers on personal and public health. We couldn't agree with him ...

[Editor’s note: DRGO Director Dr. Timothy Wheeler was invited to attend as a panelist at this March 3 conference on “gun violence” at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Because of sudden illness he unfortunately was unable to attend, but here is the text of his presentation.] My thanks today to Dean Flynn and Dr. Short for the opportunity to share.  We are talking today about ways that social workers can help prevent what some people call gun violence.  But I ask you to...

The idea of addressing "gun violence" as a public health problem persists among a number of scientists whom I think should know better: many of my fellow physicians, led by some of our specialty organizations. Guns are not pathogens—it is how they are used that matters. Epidemics are not characterized by gradual steady declines in morbidity and mortality, as homicides and violent crime have shown, accompanied by dramatic increases in gun ownership for 20 years. (more…)

A lot of people are of the opinion that everyone should have the right to protect themselves against harm. You might even think a weapon is the best way to protect yourself. Whether that's with a knife, a gun, or just physical force, no one should be hurt or killed because they aren't able to fight back with the necessary force. Dr. Brown, my colleague at DRGO, really got me thinking with his recent essay on The Ethics of Armed Self-Defense. Apparently, other people have been thinking...

The controversy surrounding firearms being allowed in hospitals rages on.  Those who believe that guns shouldn't be allowed in a hospital, or anywhere else for that matter, continue to point to incidents in which the use of a weapon is controversial. As Elizabeth Rosenthal points out in her recent article When the Hospital Fires the Bullet most hospitals are arming their security teams in one way or another, and in a few cases harm has come to a patient. (more…)

MD Magazine, a New Jersey-based website for medical doctors, recently conducted a poll of 1,700 physicians (of whom 901 responded) on their views about guns.  Results were mixed but tended to strip away the false veneer of hoplophobia that the medical establishment perpetually tries to stick on us. No one should rely on this poll as definitive.  The sample population was limited to readers of MD Magazine, a major selection bias.  The questions were poorly crafted and appear to demonstrate...

Discussions about the role of guns in society often founder under the weight of dueling statistics thrown out by both sides. I’d like to avoid the statistical food fight and base this article solely on the ethics of armed self-defense. How much do you value your life? Modern America has a strong pacifist streak that originated among some of our Christian denominations and spread to non-religious people, most notably during the 1960s. It is now associated with the liberal side of the ...