Chicago, June 16 (RHC)-- In the United States, the American Medical Association has voted to take on two major public health issues: gun violence and climate change.  During its annual meeting in Chicago, the AMA voted to support nearly a dozen gun control measures, including a ban on the sale and ownership of assault-style weapons.  
 
Former AMA President Dr. David O. Barbe said in a statement: “In emergency rooms across the country, the carnage of gun violence has become a too routine experience. … It doesn’t have to be this way, and we urge lawmakers to act.”  
 
The AMA also voted to divest from companies that get the majority of their income from fossil fuels.  Climate activist Bill McKibben celebrated the news, tweeting: “The AMA is saying to the dirty fuels industry what it said to tobacco a generation ago: You are killing our patients and we will not allow it anymore.”