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AMERICAN
MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Resolution:
__(I-03)
Introduced
by:
American
College
of Preventive Medicine
American
College
of Physicians
American
College
of Surgeons
American
Academy
of Pediatrics
American Association of Public Health Physicians
Subject:
Reauthorization and Strengthening of the 1994
Assault Weapons Ban
Referred
to:
Reference
Committee __
Whereas,
Our American Medical Association acknowledges that
uncontrolled ownership and use of firearms, especially
handguns, is a serious threat to the public's health, as
the weapons are one of the main causes of intentional
and unintentional injuries and deaths (H-145.997);
and
Whereas,
Our AMA supports appropriate legislation that would
restrict the sale and private ownership of large-clip,
high-rate-of-fire, automatic and semi-automatic
firearms, or any weapon that is modified or redesigned
to operate as a large-clip, high-rate-of-fire, automatic
or semi-automatic weapon (H-145.993);
and
Whereas,
semi-automatic assault weapons are civilian versions of
military weapons with features that allow users to
rapidly kill large numbers of people; and
Whereas,
one out of five law enforcement officers slain in the
line of duty from 1998 through 2001 was killed with an
assault weapon; and
Whereas,
assault weapons have been used in many high profile mass
shootings such as the one at Columbine High School in
Littleton, Colorado and the Washington D.C. area sniper
shootings.
Whereas,
injuries from assault weapons have a particularly
distressing effect on victims because increased
firepower heightens the risk of multiple gunshot wounds
and severe penetrating trauma, which can intensify
devastation to the body; and
Whereas,
the severity of wounds that result from assault weapons
lead to high medical costs for treatment and recovery;
and
Whereas,
California
significantly improved its state assault weapons ban in
1999 in response to gun industry efforts to evade a law
passed in 1989, giving the federal government a
successful model to follow; and
Whereas,
the 1994 federal Assault Weapons Ban is scheduled to
sunset on September 13, 2004; therefore be it
RESOLVED,
that our AMA advocate for the renewal of the 1994
federal Assault Weapons Ban (New HOD Policy); and
be it further
RESOLVED,
that our AMA advocate for a strengthening of the ban to
better regulate civilian transfer and possession of
these weapons by:
i)
Clarifying the definition of an assault
weapon to help prevent gun makers and sellers from
evading the ban;
ii)
Banning conversion parts kits;
iii)
Regulating "grandfathered"
assault weapons;
iv)
Enhancing the tracing of such weapons;
v)
Banning all high-capacity magazines,
including imports; and
vi)
Prohibiting juvenile possession (New
HOD Policy); and be it further
RESOLVED,
that the AMA send a letter to the President, Attorney
General, Surgeon General, and appropriate members of
Congress indicating this strong support (Directive to
Take Action).
Fiscal
Note: No
significant fiscal impact.
Existing
AMA Policy
H-145.985 Ban on Handguns and Automatic
Repeating Weapons
It
is the policy of the AMA to: (1) Support interventions
pertaining to firearm
control, especially those that occur early in the life
of the weapon (e.g., at the time of manufacture or
importation, as opposed to those involving possession or
use). Such interventions should include but not be
limited to: (a) mandatory inclusion of safety devices on
all firearms, whether manufactured or imported into the
United States, including built-in locks, loading
indicators, safety locks on triggers, and increases in
the minimum pressure required to pull triggers; (b) bans
on the possession and use of firearms and ammunition by
unsupervised youths under the age of 18; (c) the
imposition of significant licensing fees for firearms
dealers; (d) the imposition of federal and state
surtaxes on manufacturers, dealers and purchasers of
handguns and semiautomatic repeating weapons along with
the ammunition used in such firearms, with the attending
revenue earmarked as additional revenue for health and
law enforcement activities that are directly related to
the prevention and control of violence in U.S. society;
and (e) mandatory destruction of any weapons obtained in
local buy-back programs.
(2)
Support legislation outlawing the Black Talon and other
similarly constructed bullets.
(3)
Support the right of local jurisdictions to enact
firearm regulations that are stricter than those that
exist in state statutes and encourage state and local
medical societies to evaluate and support local efforts
to enact useful controls. (BOT Rep. I-93-50)
H-145.997 Firearms as a Public Health
Problem in the
United
States
- Injuries and Death
Our
AMA recognizes that uncontrolled ownership and use of
firearms, especially handguns, is a serious threat to
the public's health inasmuch as the weapons are one of
the main causes of intentional and unintentional
injuries and deaths. Therefore, the AMA: (1) encourages
and endorses the development and presentation of safety
education programs that will engender more responsible
use and storage of firearms; (2) urges that government
agencies, the CDC in particular, enlarge their efforts
in the study of firearm-related injuries and in the
development of ways and means of reducing such injuries
and deaths; (3) urges Congress to enact needed
legislation to regulate more effectively the importation
and interstate traffic of all handguns; (4) urges the
Congress to support recent legislative efforts to ban
the manufacture and importation of nonmetallic, not
readily detectable weapons, which also resemble toy
guns; (5) encourages the improvement or modification of
firearms so as to make them as safe as humanly possible;
(6) encourages nongovernmental organizations to develop
and test new, less hazardous designs for firearms; and
(7) urges that a significant portion of any funds
recovered from firearms manufacturers and dealers
through legal proceedings be used for gun safety
education and gun-violence prevention. (CSA Rep. A,
I-87; Reaffirmed: BOT Rep. I-93-50; Appended: Res. 403,
I-99)
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