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Most gun violence studies of the past
two decades are based on flawed methodology and unduly
influenced by political agendas, leading to biased and
incorrect conclusions.
Those are the findings of a new two-part
paper published in the Spring issue of THE MEDICAL SENTINEL,
The Official Journal of the Association of American Physicians
and Surgeons, special edition titled "Doctors and Guns
(Part II) -- A Failure of the Public Health Model."
Author Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D., editor-in-chief,
makes a compelling case that many studies are prejudiced
by the public health establishment's 1979 stated objective
of the total eradication of handguns in the United States.
He debunks a number of incorrect, widely-accepted
claims promoted by anti-gun interest groups based on tainted
studies, instead proving:
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Women in particular,
are NOT in more danger if they carry or own guns;
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The ease of access
to or availability of guns does NOT cause crime;
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Mass killings would
NOT be avoided if guns were not available;
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Gun violence is NOT
the leading accidental cause of death in children.
Dr. Faria blames
"...those in public health with
the proclivity toward the promulgation of preordained
research such as the gun and violence research conducted
by many investigators with a gun control agenda and disseminated
in the medical journals...Much of this information is
tainted, result-oriented and based on what can only be
characterized as poor science."
For example, studies on women and handguns
claim that a woman is up to 100 times more likely to be
killed by handgun than to fire one for protection.
"But they ignore the most important
use of firearms -- protection. In 98 percent of cases,
all you have to do is brandish a firearm. But these studies
don't take those incidents into account. All they do is
count women who have been killed in criminal acts and
compare it to the number of women who have used a gun
in self-defense."
Dr. Faria has recently
chastised a number of physician organizations, including the
AMA and the American Academy of Pediatrics, that urge doctors
to ask patients about gun ownership. "This is playing
politics."
Dr. Faria concludes,
"We have an obligation to reach
our conclusions based on objective data and scientific
information rather than on ideology, emotionalism, political
expediency, or budgetary consideration."
"Public health should not be
subverted and medical science should not be perverted."
Spring
issue of THE MEDICAL SENTINEL
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