Editor’s note: This commentary is by Paul Manganiello, MD MPH, of Norwich, a emeritus professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. This is an edited version of his testimony at the Senate Committee on Judiciary public hearing on domestic gun violence legislation on Jan. 30.
[I] am a physician and the medical director of the Good Neighbor Health Clinic in White River Junction; I am the board president of the nonprofit gun safety advocacy organization GunsenseVT. I am testifying tonight in support of the three legislative initiatives before you: S.6 (universal criminal background checks); S.221 (extreme risk protection order); and H.422, removal of firearms from a person cited for domestic assault.
I am also a member of the Vermont Medical Society, which has already drafted a policy statement in support of universal criminal background checks.
I, and my family, moved to the Upper Valley in 1979 to work at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Not long after we moved, we received word that my nephew had been fatally shot during a domestic violence incident. When my son was in the Dresden Middle School one of his classmates had intentionally taken her life with her father’s unsecured handgun. The state and national statistics around gun deaths and injuries give an incomplete picture of their true tragic consequences; countless family members, friends and their communities suffer as a result of each of these events, which are not tabulated in those statistics.
Let’s be clear about why I am here tonight. It has nothing to do with taking away an individual’s Second Amendment rights, but it is related to the fact the NRA is enabling domestic terrorism. No one is proposing that the government confiscate a law-abiding citizen’s firearms. We are here to encourage our legislators to pass legislation, which would protect Vermont citizens. Gun violence is multi-faceted, there is no single piece of legislation that will be a silver bullet; nor will legislation eliminate gun-related tragedies. Sensible public health initiatives can help reduce risk, not eliminate risk.
Legislation related to highway safety is a perfect example. No one would support taking down posted speed limits, even though we know some people speed and don’t get caught; even though we have laws to require using seat belts, there are those who don’t use them, but no one can deny that such legislation has improved safety on the road. In Vermont, we have legislation that regulates hunting: need for a gun safety course; a license; it sets limits on the size of the magazine.
The parents in Newtown never believed a mass shooting would ever have happened in their elementary school; the parishioners in Sutherland Springs, Texas, went to church never suspecting that they would be victims of gun violence. How many firearm-related suicides, homicides, intimidations, accidental deaths and injuries will Vermonters need to experience before our legislators will be moved to enact gun safety legislation. Just saying that Vermont is different, “ain’t necessarily so.”
Universal criminal background checks will reduce the chance that firearms will be diverted from honest commerce into the hands of criminal elements, but there are loopholes, which need to be closed. The killer responsible for the Sutherland Springs massacre was never reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. One has to ask why only licensed gun shop dealers should be required to screen for unqualified individuals: those incarcerated in prison for a term exceeding one year [felony]; convicted of a crime of, or subjected to a court order for domestic violence; having a dishonorable discharge; or is felt to be a danger to either himself or others?
It has been estimated that 20 to 40 percent of firearm sales do not undergo criminal background checks. Since National Instant Criminal Background Check System has been implemented, literally millions of unqualified individuals have been denied purchasing a weapon. Surveys of state prison inmates convicted of gun-related crimes report that greater than 95 percent of those inmates obtained their weapons through unlicensed dealers (private sales, internet, gun shows or stolen). It has also been shown that states requiring criminal background checks results in lower suicides per capita; less gun trafficking; fewer deaths of women shot by intimate partners; and fewer firearms associated with aggravated assaults.
This past Dec. 14 marked the fifth year since the tragic Newtown Elementary School massacre. Since that time more than 150,000 individuals have lost their lives as a result of a firearm. This compares with the greater than 58,000 military deaths suffered in the Vietnam conflict from 1956-2006. The United States is a virtual war zone. The time is long past that victims, and survivors, of gun violence need to be comforted by prayers and condolences from their elected officials. One of the many important responsibilities of public officials is to assure public safety. Now is the time for you to act.
Please contact Sen. Dick Sears (rsears@leg.state.vt.us), the chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, to support passage of all three legislative initiatives.
