Because of this, we must use all the data available, lest we advocate something harmful. That is certainly the case with firearms. While criminal or seriously mentally-ill patients certainly shouldn't have access to a firearm, I don't want to be part of an organization that advocates mandatory waiting periods for gun purchases, only to have my defenseless patient be attacked or killed by her estranged husband on the 3rd day of her mandatory waiting period. Studies have shown that women that resist rape with a firearm are least likely to be harmed. How do I tell my female patients that my professional organization has kept them from using the best defense possible against a rapist?
And let's not forget that the Second Amendment is about the right of the people to defend themselves against tyrannical government. While such an out-of-control government may seem unlikely here in our relatively young country, once we surrender our rights to defend ourselves, we have also surrendered the rights of our heirs as well. If the people are disarmed, and 100 years from now the country is transformed into a dictatorship, it will have been our rash decision that left our great-great-grandchildren defenseless. As a physician, I think I need to play a role in preventing this, for the good of my patients.
And while you're discounting the idea that our government could ever become this controlling, do you think our ancestors would ever have imagined the governmental mandates imposed by Medicare, Medicaid, the ADA, the EPA, and OSHA? Or that the government would ever compile such a vast array of data on it's citizens? (Let's not forget that the Social Security Number was simply an account number, it was never meant to be a personal identifier, but it's usage in that role is now ubiquitous. The law says you are not obligated to use your SSN for anything but the Social Security program and taxes. Try not using it and see what happens. That was never envisioned by the politicians who created the Social Security program.)
