If you are a Tennessee healthcare leader who would like to add your name to this public letter, please email us at info@safertn.org.
Dear Governor Bill Lee and members of the Tennessee General Assembly,
As healthcare leaders, we encourage our elected representatives to take practical, evidence-based steps that will help protect our children while maintaining our individual rights. In Tennessee, gun violence has become a public health emergency; firearms are now the leading cause of death among kids and teenagers, and 56% of gun deaths overall are due to suicide.
Today, we come together as a nonpartisan coalition to support a reasonable response to the gun violence in our State. We appreciate Governor Lee’s commitment to school safety and funding, as well as his reported plan to sign an executive order strengthening background checks. As leaders of the healthcare community, we also ask legislators to take the following steps:
- Allow authorities to temporarily remove guns from those who pose a risk to themselves or others by implementing Extreme Risk Laws.
- Keep guns away from dangerous people by requiring background checks on all purchases and closing the background check loophole.
- Stop firearms from falling into the wrong hands by requiring gun owners to provide safe storage and report lost and stolen guns.
We agree on so much more than we disagree. And we believe that together, we can work to build a Safer Tennessee. Please consider taking these legislative actions to help us all heal together.
I stand with other Healthcare Leaders for a Safer Tennessee.
Sincerely,
Ruth E. Allen
Executive Director
Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Vineesha Arelli MD
Director
Pulmonary and Critical Care
Smyrna
Caroline Banes DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC
Lead Trauma ICU Nurse Practitioner
Department of Trauma
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
Elise Boos MD, MSc, FACOG
Program Director
Kenneth J. Ryan Residency Training, OB-Gyn Department | Complex Family Planning,
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
Mary Jane Brown MD FAAEM
Past President
Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Nashville
Richard Fremont MD
Chair Meharry
Medical College
Nashville
Amy Gordon Bono MD, MPH
Board Member
ForwardTN / Protect My Care
Mt Juliet
Katrina Green MD FAAEM
Co-Chair American Medical Women’s Association Advocacy Committee
Nashville
Tess Huggins ACNP
Director
Critical Care Advanced Practice
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
Alex Jahangir MD, MMHC
Nashville
William Lummus MD, FAAEM
President
Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Nashville
Jason Martin MD
2022 Democratic Nominee for Governor
Nashville
Emily Mason MD, PhD
Director
Hematopathology Fellowship Program
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
Anna Morad MD
Past President Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics
Scott Morris MD, MDiv
Founder & CEO Church Health Center
Memphis
John Morris MD
Associate Chief of Staff, Former Chief
Division of Trauma
Nashville
James Parnell MD, FAAEM
Past President
Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine
Nashville
Stephen Patrick MD, MPH, MS
Director / Executive Director
Center for Child Health Policy at Vanderbilt University / Firefly
Nashville
Allan Peetz MD, MPH
Co-Chair Ethics Committee
Trauma Surgery
Nashville
Nicole Schlechter MD, PhD, FACOG
Board Member
Nashville Academy of Medicine
Nashville
Kara Siegrist MD
Medical Director
Electrophysiology and Cardiac Catheterization Lab Anesthesia and Liver Transplant Anesthesiology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
Laura L. Sorabella MD
Medical Director
Obstetric and Gynecologic Anesthesiology
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
Mark Yancy MPH
CEO
NashvilleHealth
Nashville
Jason Yaun MD
President
Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics