Doctors take on NRA over tweet warning them to ‘stay in their lane’

by Emily Birnbaum - 11/08/18 5:00 PM ET

Medical doctors are taking on the National Rifle Association over a tweet from the gun rights group warning medical professionals to “stay in their lane.”

The NRA on Thursday 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 over a recent paper about gun violence prevention.

Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane. Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves. https://t.co/oCR3uiLtS7

— NRA (@NRA) November 7, 2018

The tweet came one day before 12 people were killed in a mass shooting at a California bar.

{mosads}Throughout Thursday, doctors have been replying to the NRA’s tweet with medical research about gun violence.

“Reasonable gun control results in saving lives,” wrote Mary Brandt, a pediatric surgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital and Professor of Surgery, Pediatrics and Medical Ethics at Baylor College of Medicine. Brandt posted the abstracts of studies that found stricter gun control laws result in fewer injuries and deaths.

“Open carry ban decreases fatalities and healthcare utilization even in a state with baseline strict gun laws.” #ItIsOurLane pic.twitter.com/lfCqDDdyHy

— Mary L. Brandt MD (@drmlb) November 8, 2018

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

“We are not self-important: we are important to the care of others,” Choo tweeted. “We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients. We consult with everyone but extremists. Most upsetting, actually, is death and disability from gun violence that is unparalleled in the world.”

We are not self-important: we are important to the care of others
We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients
We consult with everyone but extremists
Most upsetting, actually, is death and disability from gun violence that is unparalleled in the world https://t.co/E8qz3lewK7

— Esther Choo MD MPH (@choo_ek) November 8, 2018

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

Gun violence is very much our lane. And, advocating for those who have lost their lives and loved ones is our duty.

— Tomas Diaz, MD (@tomasrdiaz) November 8, 2018

The Annals of Internal Medicine, the journal for the ACP, 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. Click the link at the top of the page and join us https://t.co/deFA2WfFh7 ….

— Annals of Int Med (@AnnalsofIM) November 8, 2018

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on Thursday published data that indicates gun deaths rose in 2015-2016, following a few years’ stint in which gun-related deaths were decreasing. The report attributes the rise to suicides and violent crime, NBC reported.

A study last week also found that guns send nearly 8,000 children to the emergency room each year in the United States.

A spate of mass shootings this year, including three in the last two weeks, has refocused national attention toward the issue of gun control legislation. Doctors have increasingly weighed in on the issue, calling the prevalence of guns in the U.S. a public safety issue.