Read More About the Second Amendment

DRGO files amicus brief in United States v. Emerson New!

Constitutionalism and Responsible Citizenship New!
By Wayne La Pierre

Firearms: A Handbook for Health Professionals: Are Firearms Good For Society?: Yes, according to a new booklet recently released by Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership and written by David C. Stolinsky, MD and Timothy W. Wheeler, MD. Order your copy today for $5 by calling (909) 621-6825 or e-mail us. Bulk rates available. New!

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO) is a project of The Claremont Institute launched in late 1994. Headed by Dr. Tim Wheeler, a southern California surgeon, DRGO has become a nationwide network of over 1,000 physicians and other health professionals who support the safe and lawful use of firearms.

Why would a group of doctors be concerned with firearms? Because social activists in the medical and public health fields have used their authority to misrepresent gun ownership as a disease. And their treatment for this new “disease” is to ban gun ownership by regular citizens?a public health prescription starkly opposed to the American Founders’ vision of freedom and responsibility.

The Problem

One of the most persuasive tactics employed by the gun controllers is the argument that guns are a threat to public health. Accordingly, firearms are portrayed by some in the medical community in terms of epidemiology.

Organized medical groups like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics use the discredited advocacy research of medical doctors to justify their political stances against gun owners.

These supposedly scientific groups ignore respected criminology research on firearms, because it generally proves the obvious: good citizens use guns wisely, and criminals misuse guns.

Because the public now recognizes the false claims of these medical gun-grabbers, the medical groups and journals are now trying a new tactic: concern about gun safety. One “reasonable” step at a time, they hope to convince government to regulate gun ownership out of existence.

The idea that firearms are a public health threat defies common sense. A growing body of criminology research shows that privately owned firearms save lives, prevent injuries, and protect property.

The Solution

Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership?a group of health professionals familiar with guns and medical research?is the antidote to those who twist science to serve a misguided ideology. We believe that managing the lives of honest citizens does not control crime, but putting criminals out of business does.

DRGO is now mounting a full-fledged assault on the poor medical scholarship?and the anti-gun bias behind it?that dominates the medical debate on gun ownership. Here are some of our accomplishments:

Participation in a amicus curiae brief for the United States Court of Appeals, in the case of United States v. Emerson, to find an act of Congress unconstitutional as a violation of the right to self-defense.

Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee revealing an aggressive anti-gun agenda at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Congress subsequently cut funding for CDC’s anti-gun “research.”
Participation in a U.S. Supreme Court amicus curiae brief supporting a successful 10th Amendment challenge to the Brady Law. This federal law would have imposed an onerous and unconstitutional enforcement burden on local governments.
Publication of the booklet Firearms: A Handbook for Health Professionals. This booklet is now available. The 20 plus page Handbook summarizes in graphs and text the best contemporary criminology research on firearms used in self defense. Call 909-621-6825 to order your copy for only $5.

DRGO Needs Your Support

DRGO’s message has spread across the country. We welcome as members health professionals of all types and anyone who supports responsible gun ownership and scientific integrity.

To learn more about membership, contact Dr. Timothy Wheeler, or project coordinator Dan Palm.