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Tobacco, guns: Will children be safer when the smoke clears?

¹ President, American Academy of Pediatrics

Dear Colleagues:

Detective story fans, as well as investigative reporters, are fond of searching for and then finding the "smoking gun." Within the health arena, pediatricians know of smoking guns in at least two epidemics that kill children: firearms and tobacco products.

Guns and tobacco have much in common. Both products are so dangerous that their elimination would save untold millions of lives. Well-financed and organized groups defend both products. The National Rifle Association (NRA) preaches individual freedom and targets gun control legislators for defeat. The tobacco industry spends millions of dollars to defeat tobacco control legislation, making the argument that legislation is another way of big government increasing taxes. The tobacco industry lobbyists overwhelmed the large public health coalition, including the Academy, which supported meaningful legislation and advocated for children and not tobacco!

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