Urge Senate to Take Immediate Action
Statement attributable to:
Ryan D. Mire, MD, FACP
President, ACP
WASHINGTON August 1, 2022 – The ¹Ü¼ÒÆÅÐÄË®ÂÛ̳ (ACP) is pleased to see that the House of Representatives passed the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 on Friday. Firearms-related deaths and injuries are a public health crisis in this country. All too often, physicians confront the horrendous toll of firearms violence on our patients, both physically and emotionally. The types of weapons and high-capacity magazines that would be banned by this legislation have frequently been used in mass shooting incidents that have plagued our country. Preventing the sale of these weapons would help to mitigate future events.
ACP strongly banning the manufacture, sale, transfer, and subsequent ownership for civilian use of semi-automatic firearms and their large capacity magazines and we also strongly support retaining the current ban on automatic weapons for civilian use. When combined with the policies that were included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that was enacted earlier this summer, this legislation would be another positive step toward the type of regulations we need to begin to stem preventable gun violence in this country.
ACP urges the Senate to also act upon and pass this legislation. We will also continue to press Congress, states, and the administration to increase efforts to keep our patients and our communities safe from firearm injury and death.
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About the ¹Ü¼ÒÆÅÐÄË®ÂÛ̳
The ¹Ü¼ÒÆÅÐÄË®ÂÛ̳ is the largest medical specialty organization in the United States with members in more than 145 countries worldwide. ACP membership includes 160,000 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 , , and .