At the Annual Meeting of the Michigan Academy of Family Physicians in July, 2018 the following resolutions were passed. The PDF is found herd on pages 5 and 6 https://www.mafp.com/system/:tenant_id/ckeditor_assets/attachments/2160/original_proposed_amendments_to_mafp_bylaws_to_be_voted_on_at_2018_annual_meeting.pdf
Physician Leadership in the Prevention of Gun Violence
WHEREAS, In 2015 there was a Call to Action to halt this gun violence crisis by all the 7 major medical societies, including the American Academy of Family Physicians 4, and our own Michigan Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) began strong advocacy in 2014 for common sense legislation to help protect the citizens in our State from the negative effects of gun violence 5, and
WHEREAS, There are over 35,000 gun violence deaths and 70,000 injuries in the USA annually, which is approximately 20 times greater than other industrialized countries 1, creating an amount of morbidity and mortality at a level that constitutes a public health crisis according to the American Medical Association and the American Public Health Association 2,3,6, and
WHEREAS, Two nationally recognized physician experts recommended 4 common sense laws that would help to reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by firearms 7 based on data collected in other states who have enacted similar laws including:
- Requiring all purchasers of firearms to obtain in-person permits at local law enforcement agencies, which is current law in 10 states and in Washington DC for handgun purchases, and has been shown to reduce the risk of guns being diverted to criminals by 68% and are also considered to be more effective as a crime deterrent than point of sale background checks[i]
- Ban individuals convicted of any violent crime from gun purchases, which has been law in California since 1991, with subsequent analysis showing that convicts who were allowed to buy guns were nearly 30 percent more likely to be arrested later for a gun crime or other violent crime compared to those who were unable to purchase guns after the law was passed[ii]
- Compel all serious domestic violence offenders to surrender their firearms until such persons prove competency in safe firearm ownership, which is in line with evidence showing that states that have enacted these provisions, so called ‘relinquishment’ laws, have reduced intimate partner violence by nearly 50 percent compared to those without such laws.[iii]
- Limit firearm possession by those who recklessly use substances, such as alcohol, through advocating a restriction in gun possession permits for those who have committed 2 DUIs in a period of 5 years, and/or until such person proves competency to drive and can prove a safe return to firearm possession, based on data showing those with DUIs are four to five times as likely as people with no criminal record to be arrested for a violent crime in the future[iv]
now,therefore, be it RESOLVED, that the MAFP actively advocate to require all purchasers of firearms to obtain in-person permits at local law enforcement, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the MAFP actively advocate to ban individuals convicted of any violent crime from gun purchases, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the MAFP actively advocate that all serious domestic violence offenders be compelled to surrender their firearms until such persons prove competency in safe firearm ownership, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the MAFP actively advocate to limit firearm possession by those who recklessly use substances, such as alcohol, through advocating a restriction in gun possession permits for those who have committed 2 DUIs in a period of 5 years, and/or until such person proves competency to drive and can prove a safe return to firearm possession.
1.
Richardson, Hemenway, Homicide, Suicide, and Unintentional Firearm Fatality: Comparing the US with other high-income countries, 2003.pdfhigh-income countries, 2003.pdf03.pdf
2 https://www.ama-assn.org/ama- calls-gun- violence-public- health-crisis
3 https://www.apha.org/topics-and- issues/gun-violence
4 http://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2151828/firearm-related- injury-death- united-states- call-action- from-8
5 http://ppgv.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/MAFP.pdf
6 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1713355
7 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/4-laws- that-could- stem-the- rising-threat- of-mass- shootings/
[i]
Webster DW, Vernick JS, Bulzacchelli MT. 2009. Effects of state-level firearm seller accountability policies on firearms trafficking. J. Urban Health 86:525–37
[ii] Wintemute GJ, Wright MA, Drake C, Beaumont JJ. 2001. Subsequent criminal activity among violent misdemeanants who seek to purchase handguns. JAMA 285:1019–26
[iii] Ann Intern Med. 2017 Oct 17;167(8):536-543. doi: 10.7326/M16-2849. Epub 2017 Sep 19.
State Intimate Partner Violence-Related Firearm Laws and Intimate Partner Homicide Rates in the United States, 1991 to 2015.
Díez C1, Kurland RP1, Rothman EF1, Bair-Merritt M1, Fleegler E1, Xuan Z1, Galea S1, Ross CS1, Kalesan B1, Goss KA1, Siegel M1.
[iv] https://www.thetrace.org/2017/02/gun-owners-alcohol-abuse-crime/
http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/24/1/681]
Webster DW, Vernick JS, Bulzacchelli MT. 2009. Effects of state-level firearm seller accountability policies on firearms trafficking. J. Urban Health 86:525–37
[1] Wintemute GJ, Wright MA, Drake C, Beaumont JJ. 2001. Subsequent criminal activity among violent misdemeanants who seek to purchase handguns. JAMA 285:1019–26
[1] Ann Intern Med. 2017 Oct 17;167(8):536-543. doi: 10.7326/M16-2849. Epub 2017 Sep 19.
State Intimate Partner Violence-Related Firearm Laws and Intimate Partner Homicide Rates in the United States, 1991 to 2015.
Díez C1, Kurland RP1, Rothman EF1, Bair-Merritt M1, Fleegler E1, Xuan Z1, Galea S1, Ross CS1, Kalesan B1, Goss KA1, Siegel M1.
[1] https://www.thetrace.org/2017/02/gun-owners-alcohol-abuse-crime/http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/24/1/68