Oregon Medical Professionals Urge State Legislators To Close Loophole In State’s Background Check Laws, Help Reduce Gun Violence

March 17, 2015

March 25, 2015– More than 100 of Oregon’s medical professionals – including doctors, nurses, and public health specialists – delivered a letter today to state lawmakers urging them to take action to reduce gun violence, including passing a law that would close the current loophole that allows people in Oregon to buy a gun without a background check.

The Oregon medical professionals, including a number who personally lobbied state lawmakers in Salem today, also urged action on laws that would help stop domestic abusers from accessing firearms, and ensure gun owners with children in their home store their firearms safely.

”Gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in our state and nation and should be understood and treated as a public health crisis. We see the tragic result of these policy failures in our work,” read the letter delivered to state legislators today. ”As doctors, nurses, mental health specialists and other health professionals, we are writing a prescription, based on the evidence.”

The medical professionals who signed the letter as well as those advocating directly to legislators in Salem today are supporters of Americans for Responsible Solutions, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired Navy combat veteran and NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly.

”Time and time again, I have seen firsthand the tragic result when guns end up in the wrong hands,” said Dr. Bonnie New of Hood River, one of the medical professionals meeting with lawmakers today in Salem. ”We need commonsense changes to require background checks on all gun purchases, no matter where they take place or who the seller is, to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.”

”As a doctor here in Oregon, I understand the importance of data, and the data is clear that the number of fatalities and injuries from gun violence has reached epidemic proportions,” said Dr. Diane Whitney of Portland. ”One reason why we have a gun violence problem is because we have weak laws. Medical professionals and even responsible gun owners here in Oregon know how dangerous firearms can be in the wrong hands. That’s why it’s time for our lawmakers to close the loophole that lets dangerous people get guns.”

”As a doctor who has seen far too many people injured and killed by gun violence, I know just how important it is to keep dangerous guns out of the wrong hands,” said Dr. John Santa of Portland. ”So I urge our legislators in Salem to seize this chance to strengthen our state’s gun laws by requiring background checks on gun sales no matter where they are conducted, ensuring gun owners with children in their home keep their firearms safely stored, and ensure domestic abusers don’t have easy access to guns. As a doctor, I think these small, commonsense changes to our laws are the responsible thing to do and will be good for the public health.”

”Commonsense changes to our gun laws can help keep guns out of the wrong hands and more Oregonians out of our hospitals,” said Dr. Marcia Kerensky of Portland. “Now is the time for Oregon lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to come together to make our communities safer from gun violence.”

A recent survey of registered Oregon voters conducted on behalf of Americans for Responsible Solutions found that a broad majority of Oregonians – including gun owners – support expanded background checks for gun sales. Among the survey’s findings: 87 percent of Oregon voters support expanded background checks on gun sales, with 70 percent saying they strongly support them; and 83 percent of Oregon gun owners support expanded background checks on gun sales. Click here to read a memo on the research’s findings.

Under current law in Oregon, individuals must pass a background check before they can buy a gun from a licensed firearm dealer and at gun shows. While individuals can request a state background check before selling a gun to another person, Oregon does not require unlicensed sellers to conduct a background check when transferring a gun to another person.

The full letter delivered today to Oregon legislators follows:

March 17, 2015

Dear Legislator:

We are Oregon health professionals. We care deeply about the health of our communities and believe we must employ sound public policy to protect the public health. This approach is critical to reducing gun deaths and injuries in Oregon and across America.

Gun violence has reached epidemic proportions in our state and nation and should be understood and treated as a public health crisis. A public health approach has been successful in reducing death and disability from infectious diseases, automobile accidents, unsafe food, and consumer products. But similar strategies have not been put in effect to address injuries and fatalities from firearms. We see the tragic result of these policy failures in our work. Here in Oregon, there are more fatalities a year from firearms than from motor vehicle traffic accidents or unintentional poisoning.

As doctors, nurses, mental health specialists and other health professionals, we are writing a prescription, based on the evidence. We call for the following legislative actions in the 2015 Oregon Legislative Session:

Establish universal background checks to close the loopholes that give criminals, domestic abusers, and the dangerously mentally ill easy access to guns.
Ensure gun owners who have children present in their households store firearms safely to prevent unpermitted children’s access to firearms.
Prohibit people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors and/or subject to a domestic violence protection order from possessing firearms.

Each of these common sense policies is already in place in a number of other states; each has been shown to reduce gun deaths and injuries. The Oregon public, health professionals, and most gun owners alike strongly support these measures.

It is time for the Legislature to take action to confront the epidemic of gun violence in our communities. Please join us in supporting these proposals.

Sincerely,

Bonnie New, MD

James Scott, MD

Don Olson, MD

Henry Garrison, MD

Ken Serkownek, PhD

Erin Brender, MD

Paul Metzger, PhD

Natsha Markovich, Grief Counselor

Lynn Boshov, MD

Michael Veverka, MD

Richard Lazere, PhD

Judith Lienhard, RN

David Maceira

Fookson Maxine, PNP

Annie McCuen

Joan Nugent, RN, MN

Jenny Pompilio, MD

Bonnie Reagan, MD

Casey Schnaible

Mary Sievertsen

William Noonan, MD

Lina Bjerke, PharmD

Arthur D Hayward, MD

Robert H. Moore, MD

Honora Englander, MD

Chrissie Ott, MD

Mary Ellen Morrison, PA C

Christopher Hall, PA C

Lyle J Fagnan, MD

Anne Santa, PhD

John Santa, MD

James Gajewski, MD

Martin Donohoe, MD, FACP

Virginia Feldman, MD

Steven Gilbert, PhD, DABT

Carolyn Jean Guidry

Laura Hanks, PA-C

Andrew Harris, MD

Rose-Ellen Hope, RPh

John Howeison, MD

Sandra Joos, PhD

Marjorie Kircher, MS, OTR

Rudy Greene, MD, FACR

Ben Kenargy, MD (Retired)

Thomas Flath, MD

Sherry Archer, MSN

Sonia Buist, MD, PhD

Jessica Burness, MD

Stephen Couche, MA

Margaret Denison

Diane Winn, RN, MPH

Sharon Doggett, CPC, PRC

Gabriel Ledger, MD

William Whitaker, PhD Psychologist

Michael C. Huntington, MD

Eugene J. Uphoff, MD

Karen Erde, MD

Evan Saulino, MD

Gene Stubbs, MD

Caroline Resari, LCSW

Lisa Riesterer, FNP

Samuel Metz, MD

Thomas Stibolt, MD

Charles Spray, MD

James Santoro, MD

Dennis Lees, PhD, MSW

Jim Carson, PhD

Michael Morich, MD

Bonnie Holstein, Psy D

Martha Perez, Care Giver

Peter Auerbach, MD

Tatum Sohlberg, MD, MPH

Peter Spencer, PhD

Karen Steingart, MD, MPH

Jay Thiemeyer

Maye Thompson, RN, PhD

David Toffey

Theodora Tsongas

Debra Vajda, LCSW

Frances Storrs, MD

David S. Nichols, Ph.D. Psychologist

Nathan K. Boddie, MD

Martin L Jones, MD

Sheri Malstrom, RN

Alan Helyer, RN

Bru Mills, RN

Bruce Humphreys, RN

Jean Donovan, RN

Kindra Scanlon, FNP

Carol Blenning, MD

Mark Evans, PhD

Jennifer Bevacqua, NP

Paul Hochfield, MD

Tom Ewing, MD

Joseph Eusterman, MD

Peter Mahr, MD

Kathy Blaustein, MPH

R Bryan Goodin, MPH

Diane Whitley, MD

Merilee Karr, MD

Brenna Lewis, MD

Leigh C Dolin, MD

Susan Katz, MD

Phil Newman, MD

Bill Harris, MD

Jane Payne, MD

Anne Wilson, DC

Frank Erickson, MD

James Grant, MD

Gregory Blaschke, MD,MPH, FAAP

Ben Hoffman, MD, FAAP

Judith Potts, MD, FAAP

Kenneth Carlson, MD

Paul Stromberg, MD

Judith Fardig, RN, MSN

Gary Pederson, MD

Crystal Query, MD

Sally Godard, MD

Antonio Germann, MD, MPH

Marcia Kerensky, MD

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