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The NRA told doctors to 'stay in their lane.' Doctors aren't having it.

The National Rifle Association seems to think health care providers aren't qualified to opine on gun control. Stories from trauma surgeons and others beg to differ.

Adam Rosenberg

on November 10, 2018

The NRA told doctors to 'stay in their lane.' Doctors aren't having it.

Police block the entrance to the Borderline Bar & Grill, in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The bar was the site of yet another mass shooting on Wednesday night. Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP/REX/Shutterstock

#ThisisMyLane

The National Rifle Association has a bone to pick with "anti-gun doctors" (what) and their collective desire to stop pulling bullets out of patients. They don't know what they're talking about, the NRA contends, when they argue in favor of common sense gun control.

"Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane," the Wednesday tweet read. "Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves."

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The tweet then links to an NRA website article deriding a position paper from the American College of Physicians (ACP). The paper lays out a number of policy recommendations that, its abstract notes, "the evidence suggests will be effective in reducing deaths and injuries from firearm-related violence."

The NRA takes issue with the fact that the paper's authors didn't consult with "firearms experts or lawyers." I'm not personally well-versed enough in these issues to respond to that charge, though I feel like a paper -- even a policy paper -- from a national health care organization is probably not in the wrong for focusing on what doctors think.

What's important here, however, is how doctors responded. Many did not take kindly to the NRA's assertion that health care providers should "stay in their lane." They were quick to remind the NRA that guns and the wounds they cause are very much in a doctor's "lane."

And so, a hashtag was born: #ThisisMyLane. I may not have a strong enough grasp of the complexities here to rebuff the specifics of that NRA article. But the health care providers sharing their gun violence horror stories here are all the convincing anyone should need that gun control is an issue that sorely needs to be addressed.

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Topics Activism Gun Control

Adam Rosenberg

Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.