NRA Urges Senate To Reject Surgeon General Nominee Over Gun Violence Prevention Stance

[SecularMotion]

Source: Think Progress

The National Rifle Association (NRA) sent a letter to Senate leaders on Wednesday evening urging the chamber not to confirm Dr. Vivek Murthy, President Barack Obama’s nominee for Surgeon General, over Murthy’s belief that gun violence presents a major public health threat. The letter was issued on the same day that Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said he would place a hold on Murthy’s nomination over similar concerns.

“Dr. Murthy’s record of political activism in support of radical gun control measures raises significant concerns about his ability to objectively examine issues pertinent to America’s 100 million firearm owners and the likelihood that he would use the office of the Surgeon General to further his preexisting campaign against gun ownership,” wrote NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) executive director Chris Cox in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“Given Dr. Murthy’s lengthy history of hostility towards the right to keep and bear arms, along with his calls for the full weight of the federal government’s health apparatus to be used to target lawful gun ownership, there is little reason to believe that he would not work to further a gun control agenda if confirmed as Surgeon General. Simply put, the confirmation of Dr. Murthy is a prescription for disaster for America’s gun owners.”

The NRA specifically criticizes Muthy’s stance that doctors should ask patients about gun ownership and discuss gun safety procedures, his belief that more federal funding should be allocated towards gun violence research, and his support for a host of legislative gun violence prevention measures such as universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/health/2014/02/27/3337931/vivek-murthy-nra-guns-public-health/#

[villager]

1. I'm sure many of the apologists here will voice their rote agreement

n/t

[ForgoTheConsequence]

4. You've done it now, prepare for an onslaught.

Alcohol kills more people.

Guns are just tools.

I'm a responsible assault rifle owner.

etc.

[villager]

5. right, but it all must be stated sneeringly and snarkily

...or it isn't worth saying!

[AtheistCrusader]

10. I see some sneering and snark in this thread all right.

Pretty disappointing too.

[villager]

11. On revision: I see downthread your willingness to tell the NRA to "pound sand"

Given the breath-taking rarity of that among the pro-gun folk, I applaud you!

[AtheistCrusader]

12. The last time there was a poll in the 'gungeon'...

The NRA did not fare well, IIRC.

Support here for the NRA is pretty sparse. There was an old guard of such people at one point, but it seems their accounts are mostly inactive.

[villager]

13. Well, I appreciate your willingness to acknowlege, viz. the old guard, those NRA talking points were

...recycled here with a rather stomach-churning frequency.

Perhaps now "pro gun" officials need to hear from you putatively "new breed" of gun owners?

[AtheistCrusader]

16. We've always been here.

There are something on the order of 100 million gun owners in the US. The NRA only has 4 million members.

People like Ted Nugent are part of the reason for that.

[villager]

20. Then do both camps a favor and start drowning out the nut jobs on your side of the issue...

If there are more "sane" gun owners, after all, get our "elected" officials more of scared of you, than of the vicious minority..

(Of course, we haven't mentioned the industry dollars flowing into the NRA, since they are, actually, a business lobby. A toxic one. But still...)

[AtheistCrusader]

21. All true.

Another reason to despise the NRA. And you can see it in their advertising, trolling for donations/members. Even after Heller and MacDonald, they actually ratcheted up the hyperbole in their mailings about how gun owners rights were under threat more than ever and blardey blah.

Personally I think they do more damage these days, than they ever helped. And they flip out about stupid no-brainer shit that we ought to do, like requiring people to report guns stolen within a certain timeframe of becoming aware of the theft. Durr. Why wouldn't you want to do so? All they do is re-frame it and claim that it would get people arrested for not reporting it within a timeframe after the theft, before they became aware of it if they were, say, travelling. Disingenuous to the max.

There's actually a lot of criticism for the NRA in gun-owner circles, believe me.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

2. Of course

Why in the world would we ever want a Surgeon General who acknowledges public health threats or,God forbid, expresses any concern over them.

Why... That's just communism.

Benghazi!

Guess I better use the thing

[marions ghost]

3. Doctors are on the front lines

dealing with the national epidemic of gun violence.

Sounds like a good pick.

[billh58]

6. The right-wing Second Amendment

absolutists are all aquiver at their hero's charge to defend their precious guns from scrutiny by science and common sense. According to the right-wing gun lobby, it is their God-given right (as spelled out in the Constitution) to be armed to the teeth, and to kill anyone who looks "threatening."

At a Celebration of Guns meeting last evening, Billy Bob Sixpack said, "God said that doctors should do no harm, and that includes guns." He received a standing ovation, and a new AR-15.

[onehandle]

7. Guns are the Jesus of Gun Culture. nt

[AtheistCrusader]

8. This is why, even as a gun owner...

I tell the NRA to pound sand.

This is clearly a public safety issue. Keeping guns away from kids is just as important as keeping prescription drugs away from them, and in no way threatens my rights. Recognizing the inherent lethality of a firearm as a suicide implement, and what might be done to prevent suicidal people from obtaining one, is also, a valid public health issue, and not a threat to my rights.

I hope they lose this fight, because from what I know of him, Murthy is a good candidate. My favorite since Joycelyn Elders.

[Paladin]

9. +1. Well said. (nt)

[frylock]

15. great post

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Fuck Rand Paul (nt)

[The Wizard]

17. They'll change their tune

when they realize minorities can own more than three fifths of a gun.

[freshwest]

18. The RWNJs went after one for saying cigarettes were harmful, another for suggesting condom use.

Same Bircher BS as expected from 2A solution fascists like Paul. Rinse, repeat...

[AtheistCrusader]

22. They went after Elders for suggesting that masturbation was normal/healthy.

Though, it was probably just Clinton Derangement Syndrome.

[swilton]

19. A Stunnning Endorsement

Now is the time to take the 'I welcome their hatred' approach.