Primary Care

ACP Releases Recommendations For Reducing Gun Violence

The American College of Physicians has released a set of recommendations for the reduction of firearm-related violence in the United States.

“For more than 20 years, the ACP has advocated for the need to address firearm-related injuries and deaths in the United States. Yet, firearm violence continues to be a public health crisis that requires the nation's immediate attention.”

These new recommendations build upon current ACP policies approved by the Board of Regents in 2014 and are based upon analysis of potential approaches to reducing deaths and injuries from firearms.

Of the listed positions and recommendations, 6 are reaffirmations of existing ACP policy. The new positions include:

  • The ACP supports appropriate regulation (consistent with the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights) of the purchase of legal firearms to reduce injuries and deaths.
  • Firearm owners should follow best practices to prevent access to firearms by children and people with dementia, substance use disorders, and serious mental illnesses associated with greater risk of self-harm and the harm of others.
  • The ACP favors legislation to ban the manufacture, sale, transfer, and subsequent ownership for civilian use of semiautomatic firearms (often called “assault weapons”) and large capacity magazines, as well as the retention of the current ban on automatic weapons for civilian use.
  • The ACP supports enactment of extreme risk protection order laws which allow the petitioning of a court to temporarily remove firearms from individuals determined to be at imminent risk of harming themselves or others.
     

“The ACP has pressed for the adoption of policies to reduce the number of deaths and injuries related to firearms for more than 20 years and is disheartened by the lack of action to protect the American public. Although there is more to learn about the causes of firearm violence and the best methods to prevent it, the available data support the need for a multifaceted and comprehensive approach to reducing firearm violence that is consistent with the Second Amendment. Firearm violence is a public health threat in the United States that must not be allowed to continue.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Butkus R, Doherty R, Bornstein SS, et al. Reducing firearm injuries and deaths in the United States: a position paper from the American College of Physicians [published online October 30, 2018]. Ann Intern Med. DOI: 10.7326/M18-1530.