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The American Medical Association (AMA), the nation’s largest physicians group, wants to prescribe gun control as an answer for America’s problems. The AMA’s prescriptions include a ban on semiautomatic weapons and mandatory background checks.
“Gun violence in America today is a public health crisis, one that requires a comprehensive and far-reaching solution,” AMA president Dr. David O. Barbe said. AMA members will vote on a number of gun-control measures at their annual House of Delegates meeting in Chicago, Forbes reported. The Delegates are scheduled to meet in Chicago on June 9 through June 13.
The AMA’s Gun Control Prescriptions may include:
- [the_ad id=”82188″]Require background checks for all gun sales and transfers – including individual sales of used weapons.
- A ban on all semiautomatic weapons. AMA delegates will vote on a measure that would make it a crime for a person to sell a used semiautomatic rifle. The same measure would make it a crime to manufacture semiautomatic weapons.
- The criminalization of high-capacity ammunition magazines. The AMA does not say what a high-capacity magazine is, but it wants to make it a crime to sell a used clip.
- A ban on the sale of a “bump stock” or any other device that can convert a firearm to fully automatic fire.
- Increasing the legal age for the purchase of firearms from 18 to 21. If the AMA gets its way, an 18-year-old will be able to join the Army and fire heavy artillery but not buy a hunting rifle.
Disturbingly, these are just the measures published in press releases. Other more radical gun control measures are very likely on the agenda for the House of Delegates.
[the_ad id=”81887″]Fortunately, the AMA cannot make these proposals law. However, the sponsors of these measures want the organization to lobby Congress and state legislatures to make them law. The AMA may also campaign for gun control in the November mid-term elections.
The American Medical Association generated $347.6 million in revenues in 2017 and employed 1,033 people, according to the AMA annual report. The AMA had around $583.8 million in investments in reserves and $48 million in the bank in 2017. So, as you can see, it has a lot of money for lobbying.
As odd as it sounds, gun owners might find their Second Amendment rights threatened by their family doctors. It is not clear how many doctors belong to the AMA because the organization does not print membership figures in its annual report.
