Doctors’ group faces backlash over campaign for gun control

TORONTO — A group of doctors pushing for tighter gun laws says one of its leaders has been targeted in an “organized campaign of mass harassment” fuelled by gun rights activists.

Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns says dozens of complaints filed with Ontario’s medical regulator are about Dr. Najma Ahmed, a Toronto trauma surgeon who treated victims of a fatal mass shooting in the city’s Danforth neighbourhood last summer.

Dr. Philip Berger, one of the group’s co-founders, said Friday the complaints against Ahmed amount to a “personal attack” for speaking on the issue.

He said the argument made by detractors that doctors should not wade into such debates ignores that advocacy is considered a core competency for physicians.

“There is a public duty and responsibility of doctors to speak out, and speak out loudly, when they have identified external conditions, circumstances and policies that are making their patients sick or impeding their recovery from illness,” he said.

“By the same argument, I suppose doctors shouldn’t talk about cigarette smoking or drunk driving or any condition which affects people’s health and lives.”

The Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights, an advocacy group representing legal gun owners, has urged its supporters to file complaints about Ahmed with the college, arguing physicians should not take political positions.