The Atlantic: Doctors Most Qualified to Decide Who's Fit to Carry a Gun

Breitbart's Big Journalism ^ | June 30, 2014 | AWR Hawkins

[2ndDivisionVet]

On June 30 The Atlantic ran a column focused on treating firearms as "a public health crisis" and allowing physicians "to determine who is fit to carry a gun."

According to The Atlantic, "all U.S. states allow citizens to carry certain concealed weapons in public for lawful purposes, with the exception of felons, persons proven to abuse controlled substances, individuals with a history of domestic violence, and those deemed mentally unstable or dangerous."

Citing the caveat regarding "those deemed mentally unstable or dangerous," The Atlantic explains that "some states may... require" a physician to sign off on a concealed carry permit application before one is issued. This points to an opportunity for physicians in all states on this matter, because "gun violence" is increasingly described as "a public health crisis."

After all, "the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and U.S. Surgeon General nominee Vivek Murthy are calling gun violence a public health crisis," which provides a basis for viewing doctors "as a crucial link in the prevention chain."

A survey of physician attitudes on this subject printed in The New England Journal of Medicine shows that 59 percent of responding physicians do not believe they can "accurately assess whether [their] patient is physically capable of safely using a concealed weapon."(continued)

[2ndDivisionVet]

Yes, and that idiot probably went to an Ivy League school.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Well I was just being snarky but for the most part doctors are not good for your health. If you go to a doctor they feel morally obliged to find something wrong with you and give you a drug for it.

[TurboZamboni]

Doctors vs. Gunowners

Doctors

Gunowners

Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services

Statistics courtesy of FBI

The number of physicians in the U.S. is 700,000

The number of gun owners in the U.S. is 80,000,000
(Yes, that’s right, 80 million)

Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year: 120,000

Accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups: 1,500

Accidental deaths per physician: 0.171

Accidental deaths per gun owner: 0.000188

So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

Remember, ‘Guns don’t kill people, doctors do.’

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat to our safety.