Assault weapons



A brief public service announcement:

There are many deadly threats in Antarctica:  weather in particular but also injury by heavy equipment, crevasses,  cold water immersion, motor vehicle and helicopter accidents, and leopard seals.  One thing we don't have to fear is being shot.  There are no assault weapons.   In fact, McMurdo personnel can have no weapons of any kind in their personal possession.  Strictly verboten.

New Zealand banned assault weapons after the mosque killings.  They do allow personal weapons--particularly for sport shooting-- but only after universal background check and registration of the weapon with the police. 

So, in the last month, we have had little to fear from the two greatest people-killers:  mosquitos and other human beings.

Nevertheless, we have not forgotten our friends in the continental US who continue to have to deal with this every day, either in the ER or in their daily lives.  So, I am taking a break from the usual Antarctica blog to call attention to the op-ed Dean and I wrote in the San Jose Mercury News, published today, to push for an assault weapons ban.  This bill, sponsored by Dianne Feinstein, is a no-brainer.  

Please read the op-ed, send it around social media, and join one of SAFE's many medical school chapters around the country on September 16 as we fight to end the firearms epidemic in the US.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Current conditions:  Con 3, Temp -22F (-49F with wind chill), clear.  Population: 277




Comments

Eric said…
Bravo Dean!
Thank you.
September 10, 2019 at 1:50 PM
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