Your physician might soon receive a copy of the American Medical Association's (AMA) "new guide for physicians on how to counsel their patients about firearm safety."¹ Funded by the anti-gun Joyce Foundation, about 70,000 copies of the guide will be distributed nationwide. Under the guise of "patient counseling," doctors using the AMA materials will be discouraging people from owning or using firearms.

We haven't seen a copy of the guide yet, but it is described as "a safety primer [which] offers doctors an overview of the public health and clinical issues involved in firearm use, including a review of the epidemiology of gunshot injuries and deaths."² We anticipate that the guide contains the bogus statistical claims that merely having a gun in your home greatly increases your risk of being killed by a person with somebody's gun. JPFO and others have debunked these statistics,³ but the gun prohibitionists will likely be peddling these stats without providing the opposing views.

One section of the guide reportedly also "describes different types of guns and ammunition doctors should know about." JPFO agrees that doctors, and everyone else, should have a working knowledge of firearms. Unfortunately, however, the guide will likely describe firearms not as tools or potential life savers ... but more like a medical book might describe a virus, a poison, or a biting insect.

Competent firearms instructors need not fear competition from doctors. We'd be astounded if the AMA guide teaches real gun safety, e.g., how to carry a firearm, how to position the trigger finger when not actually shooting, how to clear the chamber, how to always point the firearm in a safe direction, safe cleaning techniques, and how to remove a misfired round. And we are unaware of any plans for the AMA to build shooting ranges for its members ... or their patients.

Every new wave of "gun control" activism brings a new opportunity to get our message out to interested people. Don't let the AMA's propaganda go unchallenged. Here's your action item list:

1. Buy a 25-copy bundle of JPFO's special report entitled "Disarming the Data Doctors." ($19.95 U.S. post paid). Send or deliver copies to doctors and other health care professionals. Send them anonymously if you want ... but get the information to them. Include a very brief note to say that this report will counteract the what the AMA is preaching in its new "gun violence" guide.

2. Get copies of Brasco the Bear (tm) Firearm Safety coloring books for younger kids -- so that they will learn real gun safety with a balanced view.

3. If you haven't taken a professional gun safety course, then you should enroll in one soon. You will not only learn how to operate firearms safely (and accurately), but you will also be able to see the big difference between the AMA's approach and true gun safety information.