Statement attributable to:
Isaac O. Opole, MBChB, PhD, FACP
President, American College of Physicians
WASHINGTON June 14, 2024 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) is extremely discouraged by the U.S. Supreme Court decision that restricts the federal government’s ability to regulate bump stocks. Firearms-related death and injuries are a public health epidemic in our country. As physicians we too often come face-to-face with the tragedy of firearm violence.
ACP joined with other physician organizations in an amicus brief in this case to argue that bump stocks are a public health issue and should be defined as machine guns. ACP believes that we should enact legislation to ban the manufacture, sale, transfer, and subsequent ownership for civilian use of semiautomatic firearms that are designed to increase their rapid killing capacity. The high rate of injuries and deaths due to firearms shines a light on the glaring insufficiency of firearm policy in the U.S. More needs to be done to curb this public health epidemic and stop senseless firearms tragedies.
***
About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 161,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists, and medical students. Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness. Follow ACP on X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Contact: Jacquelyn Blaser, (202) 261-4572, jblaser@acponline.org