Doctor Robert Young on Politicized Science by Tom Reynolds
At the Second Amendment Institute’s “Defending Freedom Action Summit” September 25-26, “Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership’s” Dr. Robert Young had some strong words about the efforts of the political leadership of the medical profession in promoting gun control. He sheds some light in areas many of us rarely see. The following are some excerpts from his presentation.
“For 27 years, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO) has been fighting the politicization of gun policy by know-it-alls in our profession. The medical profession, at large, thinks it knows everything about everything, from Gender Identity to Firearm Safety and on to Climate Change, all in the name of Public Health. Their problem is they don’t know what they don’t know. Learning how to diagnose & treat illnesses and do surgery qualifies us only in those areas”.
“Public health interventions have been very important in preventing infectious disease in populations. Such authentic Public Health work has led to far more healthy lives and fewer early deaths than any other human endeavor. Developing medical treatments and preventive interventions have saved millions more lives”.
“So why do doctors want to veer from this ancient, honorable lane”?
“We don’t. Very few physicians want anything to do with the political goals of their professional organizations. That’s why the American Medical Association (AMA) now represents less than 20% of American physicians, down from 80% some 50 years ago, when men were men, women were women, and doctors were doctors”.
“But the AMA’s leadership has become progressively more . . . ‘progressive’, as private practice has been mostly replaced by institutionally owned medical practices with physicians having to meet insurance demands to get paid. These pressure providers to meet the agendas of those organizations, not just to do what is best for their patients”.
“And that, my friends, is the socialist, ‘progressive’ approach to modern medicine”.
“Science is not a definitive oracle. It is a process that requires fair minds, openness to criticism, and the ability to change beliefs as research yields contrary data. These abilities seem sorely absent in most of the gun control industry”.
“Careers depend on getting funding from the Bloombergs, Soros’s; their allied schools, foundations and organizations; and the government—none of which value individual responsibility. It doesn’t take a graduate degree or statistical expertise to see the faults in advocacy research. You’ll find:
o Personal bias and cherry-picked data choices & interpretation
o Correlations passed off as causation, using irrelevant analogies and false attributions
o Inanimate firearms treated as if they cause shootings
o Casting blame and vilifying those who disagree
o Irrelevant questions & straw arguments used as diversionary tactics
o Data requests from other investigators being refused
o Statistical significance purporting to have real-world importance”
“Finally, don’t let disputes among so-called “experts” distract you. The truth is out there. Without any reasonable doubt, the facts are on the side of liberty and individual responsibility”.
“The foundation of our great American right to Keep and Bear Arms is not science but principle. We have the inherent responsibility to defend ourselves and our loved ones and are entitled to arm ourselves with the tools that enable us to do so, wherever & whenever”.
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Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO), a program of the Second Amendment Foundation, is a nationwide volunteer organization of health care professionals and supporters who value honesty and human rights. Its Second Amendment activities are all volunteer, as they are all full-time practitioners. They are the doctors who know guns. This material was also presented at this year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference, also September 25-26.
