Eight physician and healthcare groups reaffirmed their support this week for the regulation of unassembled firearm kits, or "ghost guns." The groups filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to uphold the 1968 Gun Control Act, requiring regulation of unregistered firearm kits; the court is currently considering the matter.
In the brief, the organizations said failing to uphold the regulation "would allow circumvention of the Act's serialization, recordkeeping and background check requirements," according to an Oct. 7 news release from the American Medical Association.
The groups represented by the amicus brief are the AMA, the Texas Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Preventive Medicine and the American Geriatrics Society.
The American Medical Association declared firearm-related violence a public health crisis in 2016, the release said.
"Applying the same regulations to gun kit manufacturers that have applied for decades to makers and dealers of traditional firearms is a prime example of the commonsense measures the majority of Americans already support," AMA President Bruce Scott, MD, said in an Oct. 7 editorial, citing the firsthand experience medical professionals have with firearm deaths and injuries.