Statement attributable to:
Ryan D. Mire, MD, FACP
President, ACP
WASHINGTON June 2, 2022 – The American College of Physicians (ACP) shares the grief about the shooting that occurred yesterday at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing two physicians and another hospital employee who dedicated their lives to caring for others, along with a patient. I have written too many statements recently about the tragedy that gun violence brings to our communities. I am extremely disturbed that this most recent incident occurred in what should be a place of healing and targeted those whose job it is to provide care for others.
Our policymakers need to work quickly to come together on policies that will reduce firearms-related injuries and deaths. The gunman in Tulsa evidently purchased an AR-15 rifle the day of the shooting, the same weapon as used in many other mass shootings. These weapons, designed to kill and injure as many people as possible as rapidly as possible, have no legitimate civilian use; we reiterate our call on Congress and states to immediately ban their sales.
For more than two decades, ACP has called for commonsense policies that would help reduce the number of injuries and deaths stemming from firearms. In 2019 ACP joined with 41 other leading organizations in a joint call-to-action that called for evidence-based solutions to mitigate firearms violence. We need to move forward on the policies that we know could mitigate gun violence and have broad public support and call on Congress to act now.
Today’s shooting also calls attention to the need to better protect physicians and other health care workers. ACP believes that no one should be subject to harassment, physical, or verbal violence at their place of work, and we condemn violence against physicians and other health care workers. We need research to better understand workplace violence and the most effective interventions. We also need policy efforts aimed at reducing and preventing instances of workplace violence and bolstering workplace safety.
Every day that passes we face the possibility of yet another shooting and a new community devastated. We need legislative action now.
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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 (internists), 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 Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Contact: Jacquelyn Blaser, (202) 261-4572, jblaser@acponline.org