Physicians respond after NRA tells 'self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane'

After the National Rifle Association sent a tweet warning medical professionals to "stay in their lane," physicians from across the U.S. are responding to the gun rights group, according to The Hill.

On Nov. 8, one day before 12 people were killed in a mass shooting at a California bar, the NRA tweeted "Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane," linking to a blog post that criticizes the American College of Physicians for a recent paper on preventing gun violence. 

Physicians have been responding to the NRA on Twitter with medical research on gun violence.

"Reasonable gun control results in saving lives," wrote Mary Brandt, MD, a pediatric surgeon at Houston-based Texas Children's Hospital and professor of surgery, pediatrics and medical ethics at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Dr. Brandt shared study abstracts that found stricter gun control laws result in fewer injuries and deaths.

Esther Choo, MD, an emergency physician and associate professor at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, wrote, "We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients." 

The Annals of Internal Medicine, the journal for the college of physicians, tweeted a link to journal articles about firearm safety: "The NRA tells doctors to 'stay in their lane' re #GunViolence. We wish we could. Instead, we pledge to talk to our patients about gun violence whenever risk factors are present."  

Tomas Diaz, MD, an emergency physician at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote, "Gun violence is very much our lane. And advocating for those who have lost their lives and loved ones is our duty."

The CDC on Nov. 5 published data indicating gun deaths rose in 2015-16 after a few years in which gun-related deaths dropped. The report links the increase to suicides and violent crime. 

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