Program Can Help Doctors, Patients Discuss Gun Safety
BOSTON (CBS/AP) — A program will provide guidance to Massachusetts doctors who want to discuss gun safety with their patients.
Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey and the Massachusetts Medical Society announced a partnership Monday to create brochures and a voluntary online training program for doctors to help prevent gun-related accidents and violence.
The material is being developed after physicians and other health care professionals complained about a lack of information available for discussions with patients about firearms safety.
Healey said in a statement that most gun owners are responsible and safety-conscious, but conversations between doctors and patients can help prevent gun-related deaths and injuries.
"We have heard from health care providers who've told us that they want to talk to their patients about gun safety, in the same way they talk to their patients about seat belts, vaccinations, and use of tobacco and alcohol. This is about saving lives. This is about preventing needless injury and death," the attorney general told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz.
Healey last year announced a crackdown on so-called "copycat" assault weapons being sold in the state. The Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League is fighting the crackdown in court.
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WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports