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AMA's Secret Conference On Guns
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"...We
may never really know who attended the meeting, who was invited, or what
was actually discussed, as the AMA could choose to not make any specific
information available to the general public..." |
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AMA's
Dr. Corlin |
When the American Medical Association's (AMA) president, Dr. Richard Corlin,
launched his presidency in June 2001, his inaugural address
included the pronouncement that the nation's most well-known doctor's
group should openly admit to political activism in the firearm debate.
NRA reported on this "new" agenda (AMA has actually been supporting
attacks on the Second Amendment for years) both in this publication (see
NRA-ILA FAX Alert
Vol. 8, No. 25), as well as in the August 2001 issue
of America's 1st Freedom. And NRA members responded, inundating both
Corlin and the AMA with objections to this aggressive, anti-gun agenda.
Apparently, Dr. Corlin took notice.
In the December 17 issue of the American Medical News, Corlin revealed
in an opinion piece that he had chaired a conference in November he
described as including "the whole spectrum of organizations involved
with the issue of gun violence," including "representatives of advocacy
groups, both pro- and anti-gun." But the accuracy of this statement is
highly debatable: NRA - the largest organization dedicated to promoting
the safe, responsible ownership of firearms, public safety, and law and
order - was neither present, nor, does it appear, were we invited.
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"...[Dr. Corlin] referred to the Second
Amendment as 'a smokescreen'..." |
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In
fact, we may simply have to take Dr. Corlin's word that America's
approximately 65 million safe, responsible gun owners were well
represented. When we asked the AMA who participated in this conference,
we were told that such a list is not currently being made public. We
may never really know who attended the meeting, who was invited, or what
was actually discussed, as the AMA could choose to not make any specific
information available to the general public.
Such secrecy, as well as the anti-gun history of Corlin
and the AMA, raises serious doubt about the veracity of every claim made
in Corlin's December 17 piece regarding this conference, including:
- the
assertion that all participants agreed that physicians and the AMA
should be involved in the debate over "gun control,"
- that the AMA is
"the one national organization" capable of coordinating efforts to
reduce firearm-related fatalities, and
- that the AMA has the support of
members of the pro-gun community.
Corlin even makes the claim that one
of the "pro-gun participants" stated, "If people outside of this room
knew how the AMA conducted the meeting, it would go a long way to
changing the perception of the AMA." Unconfirmed reports, however,
indicate the "quote" is either a fabrication, or a case of extremely
selective, and perhaps intentionally deceptive, editing, or a
combination of the two.
But it is not necessary to have attended the meeting to expose Corlin as
either intentionally deceptive, grossly incompetent, or a combination of
these qualities. His article claims that he did not attack the Second
Amendment in his inaugural address - where he referred to the Second
Amendment as "a smokescreen."
He also claims that his inaugural address
comports with the policies the AMA has passed regarding firearms, that
these policies do not represent attacks on the Second Amendment, and
that AMA's policies do not "call for a ban on guns of any kind." In
fact, several firearm-related AMA policy statements do mention
supporting bans, while other policies include supporting legislation
that would "restrict the sale and private ownership" of affordable
handguns and certain semi-automatic firearms. Another specifically
supports allowing any municipality to pass any restrictions on firearms
it wants, including, one must presume, bans such as those that currently
exist in crime-riddled cities such as Chicago and Washington, D.C.
Plus, the AMA is an organizational member of the HELP Network, whose
goal is an America where it is "socially unacceptable for private
citizens to have handguns."
But to Corlin's credit, he does invite people to comment on the AMA's
decision to publicly take on issues that fall outside its purview. We
are all concerned over crime, especially when it leads to law-abiding
citizens being injured by their criminal attackers - regardless of whether
the attacks involve a firearm, knife, club, or other tool used by
criminals. But the debate over effective means to address crime should
be left to those with expertise. And if the AMA would like to see fewer
accidents that involve firearms, it should promote proven safety
programs such as those developed by NRA.
NRA's commitment to promoting firearm safety is unsurpassed. We have
upwards of 38,000
NRA Certified Instructors who reach approximately
700,000 people every year with instruction on how to handle firearms
safely and responsibly. And our award-winning
Eddie Eagle GunSafe®
Program has taught more than 15 million children to avoid firearms when
they are not under close, adult supervision. Our safety programs have
helped lead to the lowest rate and number of firearms-related fatal
accidents in U.S. history, and we will continue to work to drive those
numbers even lower.
If you wish to take Dr. Corlin up on his invitation to submit your
comments, you can do so by writing to:
Dr. Richard Corlin
President
American Medical Association
1301 20th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90404
richard_corlin@ama-assn.org
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