The (then) new president of the American Medical Association, Dr. Richard F. Corlin from Santa Monica, California has a pet peeve. His proposal for a study into firearm injuries is nothing more than an assault upon guns themselves. It seems the good doctor wants data on the subject so that a review can be made to set AMA policy against gun violence. Well who would oppose reducing gun related injuries and deaths, but with the recent history of this esteemed group of physicians, it seems that this president is siding with ‘Doctors Against Handgun Injury’.

These activists from the Big Apple, seek to restrict the Second Amendment and not all of their fellow practitioners are happy with their intervention. It seems that Dr. Corlin’s specialty treats stomach ailments. His gastroenteritis healing skills could be used to ease the pain that his East Shore comrades are causing, but this Left Coast ‘Top Doc’ is just pouring salt on a open wound.

This isn’t the first time that the ‘so called’ conservative society has joined the ranks of social firebrands. Some members have forgotten the words of their Greek physician patron Hippocrates: “Do No Harm”. Well, in their rush to mend the body, they are willing to restrict the right of the citizen to defend themselves.

Any discussion regarding guns, is reducible to the issue of self defense. When people demand that more restrictions on arms are necessary to curb violence, they avoid the central issue. The means for that defense is secondary to the principle that each person has as a natural right to protect their own life.

Immanuel Kant stated: “So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as a means only.” The principle of self defense is the end that needs to be the subject of this debate. The firearm is not any different from a knife, a club or a rope, other than effectiveness. To be consistent, ban bath tubs that are sold to the Andrea Yates’ of the world! Proponents that rally the confused to support legislation that will effectively eliminate the means for the defenseless to protect themselves are the infectious inflicters of a contagious disease.

A society that pays homage to those who heal, deserves respect. However, as long as the potential that violence, can and may very well be used, against you and your loved ones; who among the healing community has the right to restrict the medicine that can cure the epidemic? Defense is not an aggressive abuse, and deserves to be an option. When the medical community lobbies for destructive social policy, while wrapped in the coat of anesthetic purity, you have a subversion of the profession.

As a citizen any person has the lawful ability to attempt change of social policy. But when the purpose of a professional organization is compromised, and is falsely directed into activism, you are at jeopardy of destroying the credibility and influence of that group. Is that the kind of organization that will best serve the public? Aren’t there enough real health risks and ailments to occupy the energies of the medical society?

The dissension within the AMA to this kind of activism is most evident. A backlash is rising to the surface and deserves your support. The once unrivaled privileged status of the doctor has been altered, as much as the decline in their real income of many within their profession. Whatever criticism you may fairly have of physicians, we should all acknowledge that most are sincerely dedicated to the well being of their patients. Why not use the stamina of hard work on prevention of ailments that can be cured? Hatred and the willingness to resort to the use of violence, is not one of those symptoms that can be corrected with a pill. And certainly the aberration of the Second Amendment is no solution.

Could it be that the air or water on both coasts are contaminated with the same bacteria that hatches bewildered diagnosis? It always seems to come down to the view of the world that people embrace that separates and places people at odds with one another. We would hope that medical schools are still teaching sound science, because it seems that some of their graduates are engaged in social quackery. Reform your own house AMA, before you write a prescription for the rest of us! The treatment that Dr. Corlin proposes is a drug that we all can do without. My nose is healthy, and I refuse to sniff any of your hallucinogens as a substitute for real protection. The public can defend themselves, when armed, much better than relying on witch doctor dissection of our rights.

The prognosis is encouraging when the remedy is a 357 magnum with you in your bed. It is time to clean house at the AMA or start another society: Americans Maintaining America . . .

Written by SARTRE, and published on DrKelley.info, June 22, 2001. Embedded links may no longer be active (Ed. 01.01.11)

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