Pediatrician backs gun purge

UW Children’s Hospital pediatrician Murray L. Katcher is a co-author of American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement this week that urges removal of guns from homes and communities as “the most effective measure to prevent firearm-related injuries involving children.”

The policy on firearm-related injuries is one of several released April 4 at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The statements will be published in the April issue of Pediatrics, the scientific journal of the AAP.

The pediatricians also recommend that children not participate in formal swimming lessons until age four.

Katcher has, until very recently, served as chair of the AAP’s Committee on Injury and Poison Prevention, which drafted the policies on firearm-related injuries and swimming lessons.

For more information , visit: http://www.aap.org.