Doctors’ blood-soaked protest against NRA

AMERICAN doctors have posted blood-soaked photographs on social media in protest after the National Rifle Association (NRA) told them to “stay in their lane” over gun restrictions.

The NRA accused “self-important” doctors of “pushing for gun control” in a tweet on Nov 7, the same day a mass shooting killed 12 people in California.

In response, hundreds of medical staff tweeted graphic pictures of X-rays and blood-stained operating theatres along with harrowing stories of treating patients with gunshot wounds.

In their post, the NRA attached a link to a commentary on doctors’ role in advocating for gun restrictions.

Along with it the organisation wrote: “Someone should tell self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane. Half of the articles in Annals of Internal Medicine are pushing for gun control. Most upsetting, however, the medical community seems to have consulted NO ONE but themselves.”

Stephanie Bonne, a trauma surgeon based in New Jersey, shared an image of an armchair, writing: “Hey @NRA! Wanna see my lane? Here’s the chair I sit in when I tell parents their kids are dead. How dare you tell me I can’t research evidence based solutions”.

Another, Ann O’rourke, shared an image of her blood-soaked scrubs with the caption: “Hey @NRA when your clothes are soaked in blood and tears, you can come into my lane.”

The Twitter campaign was spearheaded by Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, and himself a victim of gun violence. Mr Sakran, who was shot in the throat at the age of 17, is a board member for the Brady Campaign, a non-profit organisation which advocates for gun control.