With frustration mounting over lawmakers’ inaction on gun control, the American Medical Association last week pressed for a ban on assault weapons and came out against arming teachers as a way to fight what it calls a public-health crisis.
At its annual policymaking meeting, the nation’s largest physicians group bowed to unprecedented demands from doctor-members to take a stronger stand on gun violence—a problem the organization says is as menacing as a lethal infectious disease.
AMA delegates voted to adopt several other proposals presented by doctor groups, such as supporting bans on the purchase or possession of guns and ammunition by people younger than 21; backing laws that would require licensing and safety courses for gun owners and registration of all firearms; pressing for legislation that would allow relatives of suicidal people or those who have threatened imminent violence to seek court-ordered removal of guns from the home.
