This evening, the Minnesota House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Committee will hear bills on common sense gun safety measures.
Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians President Glenn Nemec, MD, submitted the following to the committee for review.
On behalf of its 3,200 family physician members, the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) stands with the physician community in identifying gun violence as a public health epidemic and calling on Minnesota policymakers to take meaningful steps to protect our patients and communities by passing HF8 and HF9.
It is unacceptable that on average 96 Americans are killed every day with a gun and at least twice that number are injured.
As physicians, the members of MAFP are committed to addressing the gun violence epidemic and encouraging our communities to work together to find meaningful solutions to ensure that guns do not fall into the hands of those who wish to harm themselves or others, while respecting safe and responsible gun ownership.
Measures such as criminal background checks on all purchases and transfers/exchanges of fire arms and Extreme Risk Protective Orders, also known as “Red Flag” laws which allow family members a mechanism to temporarily remove firearms if there is a concern that an individual will harm themselves or someone else, are common sense gun violence prevention measures that are overwhelmingly supported by Minnesotans.
TAKE ACTION
Tell committee members to vote yes on HF8 and HF9.
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Posted by: Jami Burbidge, MAM, director of advocacy & engagement, @jami_burbidge