Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO) is a project of the Claremont Institute launched in 1994. Headed by Dr. Timothy Wheeler, a southern California surgeon, DRGO is now a nationwide network of more than 1,400 physicians, allied health professionals, and others who support the safe and lawful use of firearms.
Has Your Doctor Advised You Not to Have Guns in Your Home?
Follow the link to learn what you can do about it. Your doctor may be violating a doctor-patient boundary. Doctors are ethically bound not to use their patients’ trust to advance a personal interest such as a political agenda. And the evidence shows that in almost every case, doctors’ questions to you about guns are motivated by anti-gun politics.
The Problem
Motivated by deep-seated prejudice against gun owners, groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association are actively working to deprive Americans of one of their constitutional rights—the right to own firearms. These public health gun control advocates make no distinction between law-abiding gun owners and gun-wielding criminals. An example is the New England Journal of Medicine, once a premier publisher of high-quality medical research. This medical journal has unfortunately established a tradition of “advocacy science,” or pseudoscientific articles designed to provide objective justification for laws prohibiting gun ownership by good citizens.
The Solution
DRGO’s members include experts on public health, firearm technology, gun safety education, and tactical medicine. DRGO is the antidote to those who twist science to serve a misguided political agenda of gun control. We believe that managing the lives of honest citizens does not control crime, but putting criminals out of business does.
In the 14 years since DRGO began exposing the false scholarship of the public health gun banners we have seen a remarkable shift in public opinion. Public policy based on false assumptions—like the all-guns-are-bad mentality of public health activists—has been abandoned. Most states have adopted right-to-carry laws, and crime levels have dropped instead of rising. The much-ballyhooed federal “assault weapons” ban sunset in 2004, and no crime wave ensued. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, once a factory for anti-gun advocacy science, has conceded that it could not find any evidence that gun control laws reduce violent crime.
DRGO’s mission is to expose the poor medical scholarship—and the anti-gun bias behind it—held out as truth by organized medicine and medical journals. Our work includes:
- NEW! The Claremont Institute-Criminologists amicus curiae brief in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller. Written by legal scholars Don Kates and Marc Ayers, this brief debunks the advocacy science the D.C. government uses to justify its total ban on handguns in the District.
- Participation in an amicus brief for the United States Court of Appeals in the case of United States v. Emerson. The court’s decision is a scholarly discourse upholding the individual right of firearm ownership.
- Testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee revealing an aggressive ant-gun agenda at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Congress subsequently cut funding for the CDC’s anti-gun “research.”
- Participation in a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief supporting a successful Tenth Amendment challenge to the Brady Law. This federal gun control law would have imposed an onerous and unconstitutional enforcement burden on local governments.
- DRGO’s message of responsible gun ownership has been featured in national media, including Fox News television, the CBS news program This Morning, and on CBS News 60 Minutes. We have also appeared on radio programs in media markets large and small, including KNX 1070 (the CBS affiliate in Los Angeles), Wisconsin Public Radio, and dozens of others.
We welcome as members all health professionals and anyone who supports responsible gun ownership and scientific integrity.
Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership (DRGO) brings its message through public speaking, media appearances, and publication, including opinion articles. We tutor health professionals and the general public in the best available science about firearms. The lesson is that guns in responsible hands save lives, reduce injuries, and protect property by preventing violent crime.
News and Events
- In late 2008, look for our upcoming book, Keeping Your Family Safe: The Responsibilities of Firearm Ownership by Timothy Wheeler, M.D. and John Wipfler, M.D. Dr. Wipfler is a clinical professor of emergency medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and an expert in the exciting new field of tactical emergency medicine. The book covers the legal and ethical issues of armed self-defense, the natural rights basis of defending your home, basic firearm terminology and mechanics, gun safety, kids and guns, an integrated plan for making your home secure, and much more.
- We plan more media appearances by DRGO representatives, giving us valuable opportunities to educate the public about the social utility of responsible gun ownership.
To learn more about membership, contact Dr. Timothy Wheeler, or project coordinator Dan Palm.
Recent Items
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Rusher on Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston loved his family, his profession and his country. He is mourned by the many, many people who loved him. "It was from Chuck Heston that I learned the dimensions of a true 'celebrity.'" writes William Rusher, Distinguished Fellow of the Claremont Institute. -
Wheeler on Heller and Gun Rights
Public health gun-control activists are getting palpatations over District of Columbia v. Heller, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, writes Dr. Timothy Wheeler, head of the Claremont Institute's Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership. The only Second Amendment case to come before the court in nearly 70 years will soon settle the question of whether that amendment affirms an individual right to own guns. -
One for the Second
The American Academy of Pediatrics is stuck in the 90's, writes Timothy Wheeler, M.D. The AAP's amicus curiae brief on D.C. v. Heller indicates that the gun ban movement has run out of credible arguments. -
There's a Reason They Chose Schools
Timothy Wheeler, M.D., writes that no-guns-on-campus policies have been abject failures, and defines what he sees as the only solution. -
Guns Vs. Teddy Bears
Timothy Wheeler and David Kopel warn readers of the on-going campaign by gun-prohibition activists to authorize unelected bureaucrats to confiscate guns under the guise of consumer safety. -
Wheeler on Hollywood's Ethic of Hate
Why is Hollywood so despicable to conservatives? -
So Much For The Anti-Gun Strategy
Gun owning citizens have turned out to be far more familiar with the true intention of the Second Amendment, and the present intent of those who oppose it as revealed in the Emerson vs. U.S. case. Senior fellow and Secretary of DRGO Daniel Palm writes the gun issue at election time. -
Goldilocks Gun Control
In the face of all the facts, gun controllers turn to fantasy to push their anti-Second Amendment agenda, writes Timothy Wheeler. -
The Natural Right of Self-Defense
The right to bear arms did not originate with the Second Amendment. It is found, rather, in nature. A few state legislatures are coming around to that realization, writes Timothy Wheeler. -
Why Barbara Carries a Gun
Two doctors write on private gun ownership and how it pertains to their practice for Medical Economics magazine. Andrew A. Johnstone, MD is a founder of Doctors For Sensible Gun Laws, and Timothy Wheeler M.D. is director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership. -
The Natural Right of Self Defense Revisited
In December Timothy Wheeler wrote on new Michigan laws allowing more of it's citizens to acquire handguns legally. Now six other states are doing the same, recognizing that defending one's self in such a way is a natural right — not a privilege. -
The AMA's Epidemic of Deceit
Congress recently cut off funding for the Center for Disease Control's gun research programs, bringing the accusation that the "gun lobby" actually wants crime to flourish. Timothy Wheeler writes on the American Medical Association's confusion between public health and gun control. -
Stratton and the Natural Right of Self-Defense
The small town of Stratton, Colorado now issues firearm permits to all qualified residents who want one. The Claremont Institute's Director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, Timothy Wheeler M.D., reflects on the variety of alarmed reactions to this appeal to natural rights. -
Guns and (Character) Assassination
It was only a matter of time before the gun ban lobby took advantage of Americans' fears of terrorist attacks to scare them into giving up more of their rights, writes Tim Wheeler and Dave Kopel. -
Fly The Safer Skies
Armed and qualified good guys provide the most potent weapon available against the threat of deadly force. This is just as true at 30,000 feet as it is on the ground, argues Dr. Timothy Wheeler. -
The Sun Goes Down in England
As England slides further toward darkness, let us resolve to keep the light of liberty — and the right of self-defense — shining in America, writes Timothy Wheeler. -
America's 80 Million Potential Snipers
It comes as no surprise that the sniper murders are used for a whole new series of bad arguments for further gun regulation — perhaps the worst yet, writes Tim Wheeler. -
The Great Leap Backward in the Ninth Circuit Court
Timothy Wheeler writes on the latest news in the world of judicial activism, and the explicit rejection the Founders' original intent with respect to gun rights in the 9th Circuit Court. -
Let a Bad Law Die
President Bush has come out in favor of continuing the onerous 1994 federal ban on so-called assault weapons, which is set to expire just before next year's election. Bad move, writes Dr. Timothy Wheeler. -
A Right Denied in Ohio
Ohio is one of only six states that denies its citizens the right to defend themselves against criminal outrage. Dr. Timothy Wheeler, who did his surgery internship in the Buckeye State, hopes that legislators there will soon make Ohio's constitutional right of self-defense the law of the land. -
Litigation Without Justification Is Tyranny
Small groups of elite powerbrokers around the country have abused the judicial process in an attempt to destroy the firearm-manufacturing industry. They have fraudulently harmed a highly regulated industry that deals honestly in a legal product, writes Timothy Wheeler, M.D. -
A Light Goes on at the CDC
Liberal reformers who would curb the freedom of others are obliged to prove the efficacy of gun control laws. They have failed to do so. Gun owners have always known that gun control laws aimed at them instead of criminals are futile and unjust. Now that everybody else is finally getting it, perhaps it's time for a moratorium on new gun laws, writes Dr. Timothy Wheeler. -
Wilmette Injustice
The people of Wilmette, Illinois must explain why they believe Hale DeMar was right in using lethal force to protect his family but wrong in using the only safe instrument for the job, writes Timothy Wheeler, M.D. -
Docs Gun for a Ban
The American Academy of Pediatrics' official view is that the only safe gun is no gun at all. Think about that the next time your doctor starts talking to you about "gun safety," writes Timothy Wheeler, M.D. -
Assault-Weapons Ban, R.I.P.
Intentionally misrepresenting assault weapons as machine guns is nothing new for the gun-control lobby. But if the public mood about the issue is any indication, the lie is exposed. Congressional leaders held fast to the end, citing their constituents' desires in letting the law die its programmed death, writes Timothy Wheeler. -
Jim Crow's Spirit in the Land of the Pilgrims
Tim Wheeler, Director of Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, writes on the striking similarities between Jim Crow laws and new anti-gun legislation in Massachusetts. -
Ugly Guns and Olympic Dreams
A California gun control law, scheduled to take effect after December 31, will create a whole new category of criminals: junior Olympic-class shooters, writes Tim Wheeler. -
If It Saves One Life
Should we fear gun-owning citizens or scalpel-wielding doctors? Common sense tells us that we have nothing to fear from either. -
Has Your Doctor Advised You Not to Have Guns in Your Home?
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The Social Hygiene of Gun Control
Today there is no clearer example of a public health assault on civil liberties than the pediatricians' campaign to persuade families that guns are bad. -
Life and Death in The City
Guns are used everyday by law abiding citizens to protect themselves. We as voters must not forget this when we go to the polls in November, writes Timothy Wheeler MD. -
An American Patriot in Los Angeles
The best lesson we can teach our children about guns is that they are powerful tools that can be used for good or bad, writes Timothy Wheeler MD. -
Gun Control By Other Means
Common sense gun legislation has reached its limit, leaving only the infringement of constitutional rights, according to Timothy Wheeler, MD. -
The Unnatural Death of a Natural Right
Great Britain banned handguns in 1997 under the pretense that fewer guns would help control crime. Now crime is up, and citizens who defend themselves are going to jail. Dr. Timothy Wheeler warns against America following Britain down the same slippery slope.
