RI physician speaks out about gun violence

December 7, 2018 4:05 pm

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — A local doctor is taking a stand in the gun violence debate. She wrote an editorial on the role the medical community plays after a tweet sent by the NRA told doctors to “stay in their lane.”

Health care professionals see the impacts of gun violence every single day. A Rhode Island physician has been working on solutions long before the NRA came out against it. Megan Ranney, M.D., M.P.H., says it’s not a political debate but a public health problem.

Medical professionals with a candid look at their new norm, tweeting pictures of bloody scrubs and emergency room floors after the National Rifle Association told them to stay in their lane when it comes to gun violence.

“This is so our lane,” says Dr. Ranney.

Ranney made headlines of her own by writing an editorial on gun safety.

“We’re not willing to be silent on behalf of our patients and our families and our communities,” she says.

The day after the NRA tweeted that, 12 people were killed at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. Two weeks after that, 4 people died in a Chicago hospital shooting.

For health care workers this isn’t new.

“I take care of the kids who have been shot in a drive by, who’ve hurt themselves and I know that it doesn’t have to be this way, I know that we can come together and fix this,” says Ranney.

She emphasizes this is not about gun control but using science and research to come up with practical solutions.

“We recognize that most gun owners are safe and we’re not trying to take away guns. We’re trying to make sure that we have a lower number of injuries and deaths across the country,” she says.

And because it’s a problem that can creep into every community, it’s personal.

“Sandy Hook. I’ll never forget watching the videos of those little kids being walked out of the school and of their parents and then worse were the pictures of the parents whose kids didn’t make it. I’m a mom myself and the thought as I put my kids on the bus every morning is let that not happen at my kids school,” says Ranney.

Frank Sacoccio, the president of the Rhode Island Second Amendment Coalition says the statement the NRA made wasn’t appropriate. They’re open to any ideas that would help with gun safety and preventing shootings as long as it doesn’t infringe on law abiding citizens right to own a gun or protect themselves.