--- title: "American Medical Association Gets Tougher on Gun Control" id: "33772" type: "post" slug: "american-medical-association-gets-tougher-on-gun-control" published_at: "2016-06-15T23:19:04+00:00" modified_at: "2026-03-16T16:47:48+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/06/15/american-medical-association-gets-tougher-on-gun-control/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2016/06/15/american-medical-association-gets-tougher-on-gun-control.md" excerpt: "During its annual meeting this week, the American Medical Association laid out a variety of positions on issues related to topics that have been prominent in the news. High on the agenda were two takes on gun violence that were..." taxonomy_category: - "Advocacy" taxonomy_post_tag: - "Advocacy" - "AssociationsNow" - "Control" - "Leadership" - "public health" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_role: - "Association CEO / Executive Director" - "C-Level" - "Executive Team" - "VP" taxonomy_persona: - "Executive Leadership" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » American Medical Association Gets Tougher on Gun Control ## During its annual meeting this week, the American Medical Association laid out a series of positions on issues that have been prominent in the news. High on the agenda were two stands on gun violence that were particularly timely, considering the deadly shootings in Orlando over the weekend. The American Medical Association’s annual meeting was in the works long before two shootings in Orlando brought discussion of gun control back to the public sphere. But two votes taken by the AMA [at its meeting this week (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/sub/meeting/index.html) are particularly relevant to the headlines of the past few days. On Wednesday, the AMA House of Delegates voted to expand the association’s gun-control policy to support waiting periods and background checks for purchasers of all firearms (the policy previously addressed only handguns). A day earlier, AMA announced it will actively lobby Congress to change the law to allow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to research gun violence, something the CDC has long been prohibited from doing. “With approximately 30,000 men, women, and children dying each year at the barrel of a gun in elementary schools, movie theaters, workplaces, houses of worship, and on live television, the United States faces a public health crisis of gun violence,” outgoing AMA President Steven J. Stack, M.D., said [in a media release on Tuesday (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-14-gun-violence-lobby-congress.page) . The lobbying vote is significant, as AMA advocacy could have a significant impact on the issue. According to OpenSecrets, the association [spent $19,650,000 on lobbying (opens in a new tab)](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=D000000068) in 2014, nearly six times the $3,360,000 that the National Rifle Association [spent over the same period (opens in a new tab)](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/summary.php?id=d000000082) . (The NRA, however, does significantly more outside spending during political campaigns.) Stack emphasized that “epidemiological analysis of gun violence is vital” so that physicians and other medical professionals, police officers, and citizens can prevent injuries and deaths caused by firearms. In a separate vote, the House of Delegates approved the stronger policy position on gun control. “Mass killers have used AR-15s, rifles, and handguns, and today we strengthened our policy on background checks and waiting periods to cover them all, with the goal of keeping lethal weapons out of the hands of dangerous people,” Stack said [in a statement released Wednesday (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-15-background-checks-gun-purchasers.page) . The House of Delegates had a full agenda at the meeting, adopting a spate of policy positions on a wide array of issues currently in the news, including the [Zika virus (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-14-funding-combat-zika-virus.page) , [lead contamination in drinking water (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-14-prevent-future-lead-poisoning.page) , [opioid abuse (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-15-new-tools-combat-opioids.page) , and [paid sick leave (opens in a new tab)](http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/news/2016/2016-06-15-benefits-paid-sick-leave.page) . (iStock/Thinkstock) [Ernie Smith](https://associationsnow.com/author/ernie-smith/) Ernie Smith is a former senior editor for Associations Now. 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