{"id":1201,"date":"2015-10-13T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/2015\/10\/13\/doctors-for-responsible-gun-ownership\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:25:58","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:25:58","slug":"doctors-for-responsible-gun-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/?p=1201","title":{"rendered":"Doctors For Responsible Gun Ownership Respond To Dr. Carson&#8217;s Suggestion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:10092,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/?p=1962&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/?p=1962&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:10093,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.businessinsider.com\\\/ben-carson-gun-control-oregon-shooting-32015-10&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.businessinsider.com\\\/ben-carson-gun-control-oregon-shooting-32015-10&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:10094,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/?p=285&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20170628151914\\\/https:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/?p=285&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-18 19:29:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-18 19:29:06&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:10095,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.nejm.org\\\/doi\\\/full\\\/10.1056\\\/NEJM199310073291506#t=articleTop&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:10096,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/content.healthaffairs.org\\\/content\\\/12\\\/4\\\/7.long&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:10097,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/Claremont-News-Info-flyer.jpg&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/01\\\/Claremont-News-Info-flyer.jpg&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:10098,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/?p=1134&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/drgo.us\\\/?p=1134&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<p>\nI had the opportunity to sit down with some of the physicians involved in Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership while at the recent Gun Rights Policy Conference. I was impressed by their dedication to gun rights and am glad that they are on our side.<\/p>\n<p>Last week presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson hinted his possible support for the creation of a database of \u201cdangerous people\u201d to reduce mass shootings by preventing such people from gaining access to firearms. Dr. Carson further stated he does not oppose repealing the ban on federal funding for gun research at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. <\/p>\n<p>Dr. Timothy Wheeler, director of DRGO, has released an open letter to Dr. Carson on these issues. Dr. Wheeler was one of the physicians who testified before the House Appropriations Committee back in 1996 about the CDC&#8217;s misleading research and its anti-gun advocacy.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/drgo.us\/?p=1962\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The open letter is below<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\">\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nDear Dr. Carson:<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nAs a nationwide group of fellow freedom-loving health care professionals, we are glad to see your candidacy for President.&nbsp; We are gratified to have seen a change in your public statements on firearm policy since you entered the primary race. Along the way you have apparently become educated in the demographics and political philosophy of the American right to keep and bear arms.&nbsp; These are things your otherwise extraordinary career may not have prepared you for, and we thank you for making the effort to learn them.<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nStill,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ben-carson-gun-control-oregon-shooting-32015-10\" style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #01aefd; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">your recent remarks<\/a>&nbsp;supporting restoration of funding for gun research to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) make us wonder if you know why Congress reined in the CDC\u2019s gun control research in the 1990s.<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nPart of the mission of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership is to guard against biased, agenda-driven advocacy science that attacks the right of gun ownership under the guise of legitimate science.&nbsp; Unfortunately, gun control advocates at the CDC long ago assumed a central role in funding and supporting such advocacy science. &nbsp;And as you know, research motivated by a political agenda is not real science at all.<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nI was one of three medical doctors who&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/drgo.us\/?p=285\" style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #01aefd; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">testified before the House Appropriations Committee<\/a>&nbsp;in 1996 about the CDC\u2019s misdeeds. We presented testimony documenting the CDC\u2019s political agenda against gun ownership. Further, we showed the committee evidence of misuse of taxpayer money to fund gun control advocacy:<\/div>\n<ul style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; list-style: circle; margin: 0px 0px 15px 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\n<li style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">The CDC funded research culminating in numerous medical journal articles. The articles invariably proclaimed gun ownership to be a public health hazard. The most controversial was&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nejm.org\/doi\/full\/10.1056\/NEJM199310073291506#t=articleTop\" style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #01aefd; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cGun Ownership as a Risk Factor for Homicide in the Home,\u201d<\/a>&nbsp;(<em style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">New England Journal of Medicine<\/em>&nbsp;329, no. 15, October 7, 1993). Its authors claimed that keeping a gun in the home increased the risk of becoming a homicide victim.<\/li>\n<li style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">The authors incorrectly used a case control method to claim a causal relation between gun ownership and homicide risk. They improperly generalized from a highly selection-biased study group of inner city homicide victims to gun owners across the country, even in rural and low-crime areas.<\/li>\n<li style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">In an official 1993 CDC publication,&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/content.healthaffairs.org\/content\/12\/4\/7.long\" style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #01aefd; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">Public Health Policy for Preventing Violence<\/em><\/a><em style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">,&nbsp;<\/em>senior CDC administrators proposed allowing only police, guards, and the military to have guns. As an alternative they proposed the outright prohibition of gun ownership (see page 19 of original document).<\/li>\n<li style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">In 1995 CDC grant money was used by the Trauma Foundation, a group of San Francisco gun control activists, to publish a&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/drgo.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Claremont-News-Info-flyer.jpg\" style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #01aefd; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">newsletter promoting gun control<\/a>. The CDC-funded newsletter advised readers to \u201corganize a picket at gun manufacturing sites\u201d and to \u201cwork for campaign finance reform to weaken the gun lobby\u2019s political clout.\u201d<\/li>\n<li style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">The director at that time of the CDC\u2019s National Center for Injury Control and Prevention, Dr. Mark Rosenberg, has repeatedly made derogatory public statements about gun ownership. In a December 9, 1993&nbsp;<em style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;\">Rolling Stone&nbsp;<\/em>interview Director Rosenberg was quoted as saying he \u201cenvisions a long term campaign, similar to tobacco use and auto safety, to convince Americans that guns are, first and foremost, a public health menace.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nWe would not be surprised if you are unaware of the valid reasons for Congress\u2019s defunding of CDC firearms research. Most major media outlets refuse to mention that history in their many protests about the defunding, since they are almost all unapologetic supporters of strict gun control.<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nMore detail on the history of Congress\u2019s defunding of the CDC is available at DRGO\u2019s website in the three-part series titled&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/drgo.us\/?p=1134\" style=\"border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #01aefd; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.3s ease-in-out; vertical-align: baseline;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cPublic Health Gun Control: A Brief History\u201d<\/a>. &nbsp;Broader commentary and documentation of the public health community\u2019s deliberate campaign against gun owners is available at the website. We invite your critical review. And we wish you the best in the months to come.<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nYours truly,<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nTimothy Wheeler, MD<br \/>\nDirector<\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 20px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; vertical-align: baseline;\">\nDoctors for Responsible Gun Ownership<br \/>\nA Project of the Second Amendment Foundation<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had the opportunity to sit down with some of the physicians involved in Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1459,1605,2109,2110],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cdc","tag-doctors-for-responsible-gun-ownership","tag-dr-ben-carson","tag-dr-timothy-wheeler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10485,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions\/10485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}