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February 18, 2014
An Anti-Gun Surgeon General is A Bad Prescription
Fought to a standstill on Capitol Hill in 2013, the Obama administration is poised to take its gun control efforts in a different direction, although it’s hardly a new one. Carrying the flag previously borne by Vice President Joe Biden will be Dr. Vivek Murthy, should his nomination to become the nation’s next surgeon general be approved by the U.S. Senate. The National Shooting Sports Foundation formally opposes Dr. Murthy’s appointment as a bad prescription for America. Read NSSF’s Letter to Sens. Harkin and Alexander.
If Dr. Murthy becomes surgeon general, we will see what Dr. Timothy Wheeler has called the more than two-decade long “medical political movement against gun owners” receive a supercharged resurgence. Indeed, during his recent Senate confirmation hearing Dr. Murthy confirmed, “I do not intend to use my office as surgeon general as a bully pulpit on gun control.”
In 1994, Dr. Wheeler founded Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, which has since grown into a nationwide network of physicians and healthcare professionals who support the safe and lawful use of firearms. NSSF has supported and worked with Dr. Wheeler in the past.
The battle Dr. Wheeler has taken on is against “…medical researchers (who) insist that what they call ‘gun violence’ is a public health problem.” Continues Dr. Wheeler, “That they prefer the term ‘gun violence” is revealing of their mind set in approaching the problem, because it puts the emphasis on guns and not on the humans who misuse them. This misleading public health terminology, enthusiastically repeated by fellow gun control advocates in the mainstream media, ignores the fact that almost none of America’s 80 to 100 million gun owners have any role whatsoever in the misuse of guns.”
We have been down this road before and the reason why we are headed down it again was best summed up by Dr. Wheeler just over a year ago, “Normative gun ownership is foreign to most mainstream media personalities and to public health anti-gun rights advocates. They fear guns and gun owners, and they have no interest in learning about them or respecting their views. These prejudices and fears drive their campaign to bring ever more regulation to American gun owners.” Read this article for more.
So on top of seeking to appoint more political donors to ambassadorial posts than any other president, we now see a White House that has chosen to name a relatively inexperienced 36-year-old doctor who has more political than medical credentials for the job. His Doctors for America organization was up to its collective stethoscope draped neck in the anti-gun Docs v. Glocks campaign in Florida.
We could say more, but why? Dr. Murthy seems to have President Obama’s political health as his top concern. The past is prologue, as it’s been said, so we oppose Dr. Murthy as our next surgeon general. America deserves better.
Categories: Government Relations, Top Stories, WTS
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