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Gun Violence & Physician Puppets

Today is gun violence awareness day.  Physicians around the country are hitting social media about terror of guns, of gun ownership, and how “guns are killing our children.”  In fact, there is a whole movement to “wear orange today.”  I truly appreciate the importance addressing violence in our homes, families and neighborhoods.  Violence in any form is terrible and tragic.  Yet, I am disturbed that very intelligent people are swayed into relinquishing rights of freedom and liberty based upon emotions and fear.  I’m sure my comments will strike up the ire of a number of my colleges and a few patients (Not that that is anything new – I’ve been beating the ketogenic drum for 15 years telling people to ignore the AHA and have some bacon).  Yet, I cannot, and I will not remain silent.

Evidence Doesn’t Support the Media’s Claims

In medicine, we are taught to practice and act based upon evidence.  Wearing orange to support removing my right to own a firearm fly’s in the face of evidences.  Over the 20 years of my medical practice, I have witnessed progressive socialists, liberal media and those that don’t know better, in an attempt to legislate greater control over the population, very successfully use our emotions to slowly remove our inalienable rights of freedom.  One of those is our second amendment right to own firearms.  The media, with many well meaning physicians and physician groups around the country, are using days like today to try to convince you that homes are more dangerous because there are more guns in homes, and more violence due to the presence of those guns.  But is that true?

According to recent research, gun homicide has actually decreased 49% since 1993.

And, according to a 2017 Journal of Pediatrics article, “Nearly 1300 children die and 5790 are treated for gunshot wounds each year. Boys, older children, and minorities are disproportionately affected.” Yet, this number is down from 1993.

And interestingly, “. . .unintentional firearm deaths among children declined from 2002 to 2014, firearm homicides declined from 2007 to 2014, and firearm suicides decreased between 2002 and 2007.”

The research does, however, show an upward trend in suicide from 2007 to 2014. But, according to the article, this appears to be “. . . precipitated by situational and relationship problems. The shooter playing with a gun was the most common circumstance surrounding unintentional firearm deaths of both younger and older children.”  However, overall the numbers are down by almost 50%.  Yet, that’s not the message being shared today.

Fewer People’s Homes Have Guns

Today, fewer homes have guns in them.  Fewer people hunt and use the firearms regularly.  And, because we live in bigger cities, opportunities to educate our youth about proper use and storage of firearms occurs less often.  Fewer families teach their children gun safety and unintentional injury and death can occur when our children are not correctly taught about the use and safety of firearms.

The progressive left and media will tout that according to the Congressional Research Service, as of 2015 there actually are almost twice as many guns per capita in the United States as there were in 1968: more than 300 million guns in all. And, gun sales actually have increased in recent years. You will hear that according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. gun-makers produced nearly 11 million guns in 2013, the year after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre. That’s twice as many as they made in 2010.

You even hear the words of Dr. Deborah Azrael parroted that, “There’s a gun for every man, woman, and child, more or less.”

But does every man, woman and child in the U.S. have a gun?  The number of armed households has actually declined to about 1 in 3. So an ever larger number of guns is concentrated in a shrinking number of homes:

Listen for just a short time today and you’ll hear the media and the progressive left claim that we need to make it harder to obtain a gun.  Well, we’ve done that already!
According to FBI records, background checks have more than doubled, making it harder to obtain a firearm in the U.S.

Involve the Pillars of Safety to Move the Agenda Forward.

I will paraphrase the comments of Jonathon Schuldt, a professor of communications at Cornell University. He stated that  in a nation where freedom is among the deepest ideals, control is almost a dirty word, and it is much easier to justify why one is against [gun] control that it is to justify why one is against [gun] safety.
Making the case for safety is easy, just involve the doctors.  Use the emotions and fear of violent injury and the treatment of horrible gunshot wounds.  If the doctors, especially our beloved pediatricians, are for “Gun Safety” [implying gun control], then we must support it. Right?!
Progressives have subtly changed our minds by changing the words and adding emotion.  Change the word “control” to “safety” & sprinkle with some doctors in white coats while wearing orange. Then, change the headlines that show up in today’s Google search of the news (for example):
  • ABC News: Virginia Gov. Northam on gun safety: Summons lawmakers to special session.
  • MSNBC News: Virginia democrats pressure for gun safety
  • CBS News: Senator Cory Booker: Unveils new gun safety plan
Yet, in the news today people like Virginia’s Governor, Ralph Northam, are following the gun control playbook to the letter by exploiting a tragedy to push political agendas.  None of Governor Northam’s gun control proposals would have prevented the horrible tragedy at Virginia Beach.  If he is genuinely interested in pursuing policies that will save lives, he and states around this great nation should focus on the following:
  • Prosecuting violent criminals
  • Fixing our broken mental health system
  • Identifying the real cause of suicide in our school systems
Instead, Gov. Northam, and others like him, blame our country’s law-abiding gun owners for the acts of deranged murderers and people who are truly mentally ill.
Of note,dDepression and suicidal behavior increases 40-60% with vegetarian and vegan diets.  Maybe we should focus on the dangers of dementia, depression, schizophrenia and violence that arises while following a vegetarian or vegan diets.  Until, then keep your hands off my guns and pass the bacon!