June 2, 2022
On June 1, the MMA and the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) released a statement calling for more firearm safety and prevention measures in the wake of the nation’s recent mass shootings, including a shooting at a Tulsa, OK, healthcare facility that took four lives earlier in the day.
“The mass shootings throughout our nation in recent months due to gun violence are unfathomable,” the statement read. “The hospital, health system, and physician community cannot and will not be silent as gun violence increasingly enters our places of healing, learning, and other community settings – these senseless acts of violence must be stopped. This is a public health crisis and must be addressed.”
The MMA included preventing firearm death and injury as one of its top legislative priorities this past session. With a split Legislature, however, nothing moved forward at the Capitol. In recent sessions, the MMA has advocated for: 1) universal background checks on all firearm transfers and sales; 2) extreme risk protection orders (‘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 others; 3) authorizing the use of firearm ownership data for public health research or epidemiologic investigation; and 4) raising awareness of the role that firearms play in suicides.
“Minnesota’s health care facilities and campuses must remain places of healing – ensuring they are safe for patients, our staff and volunteers, and visitors,” the MMA/MHA statement also says. “As guardians of community health, we stand ready to work with policymakers and stakeholders on solutions to prevent these tragedies now and in the future.”
If you are looking for a way to engage on policy related issues and lend your voice to the conversation, you can join the MMA Advocacy Action Team on “Firearm Death and Injury Prevention.” Click here for more information.
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