A Businessweek report said the National Rifle Association and its allies are concerned about the nomination of Harvard Medical School instructor and well-regarded physician Dr Vivek Murthy as the Surgeon General for the United States. Vivek, who is US President Barack Obama's nominee, is a known staunch supporter for firearms regulation. Despite the fact that gun regulation has no place in the Surgeon General's responsibilities and that the former falls under the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives jurisdiction, Businesweek said that the gun ethusiasts' concern falls on a couple of trigger words in the Surgeon General's mandate.
According to the website of the lobbying arm of the NRA, "The surgeon general has the important tasks of providing the American public with information to better inform decisions related to their health and directing much of the federal government's public health efforts."
Businessweek said that the words "information" and "public health" are scary in a sense that given Vivek's views on gun regulation, informed, well-research studies could well debunk expansive claims by the extreme gun-rights movement about the benefits of gun ownership. The news agency said existing research are slowly chipping away at some of the benefits, with one saying that gun ownership is correlated to the number of suicides and homicides in the country.
Over the past two decades, the NRA has reportedly opposed to quality research, as it threatens the interest group's agenda, Businessweek claimed. As such, the opposition of Murthy's appointment as the US Surgeon General was viewed as necessary and rational considering that a government figure could well influence the general public about their views on gun ownership.
The Guardian said that Murthy's views about gun ownership, which is just about every ordinary American according to most recent polls, has allowed the NRA to call up its massive influence in Washington. A New York Times article has reported that a minimum of 10 Democrats in the US Senate could vote against him. Because of the need for political allies to appease gun enthusiasts, the Huffington Post detailed that the White House has suddenly "recalibrated" to ensure that Murthy's nomination will not fail.
