Political Quotes

“listening to your doctor is just common sense. That is why it is important for Congress to take note that this April, the American College of Physicians, ACP, our Nation's largest medical-specialty organization and second largest physician group, released an important diagnosis: that our Nation is trapped in an epidemic of gun violence. Fortunately, it also includes a treatment: a set of policy positions and recommendations to reduce gun violence in our country. The ACP report begins with recognition that ``firearm violence is not only a criminal justice issue but also a public health threat.'' The statistics are undeniable: Guns kill over 32,000 individuals in our Nation every year--about 88 lives stolen, every day. But those are only the fatal shootings; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that more than 73,000 nonfatal firearm injuries occur in the United States every year. And what is a ``nonfatal'' injury? Anything from a bullet grazing someone's shoulder, to a domestic abuser taking aim at a spouse's heart and striking the arm, to a child accidentally shooting him or herself in the stomach and barely surviving. ``Nonfatal'' gun injuries may evade the first sad statistic, but they can be devastating all the same. These statistics also belie the collateral damage the families, friends and communities shattered by a pull of the trigger.…”