NRA Slams 'Self-important Anti-gun Doctors' Hours Before Thousand Oaks Bar Mass Shooting

The National Rifle Association was condemned for a tweet saying medical professionals opposing gun violence should "stay in their lane," sent hours before the mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California.

The NRA was responding to recent articles published by Annals of Internal Medicine, including one written by the American College of Physicians (ACP) describing firearm-related injuries and deaths in the U.S. as a "public health crisis."

"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," the pro-gun lobby group complained.

The tweet, which was posted just a few hours before 12 people were killed in a attack at the Borderline Bar and Grill, linked to a blog post on the NRA's website further criticizing the ACP for only being interested in "pseudo-science 'evidence' that supports their preferred anti-gun policies."

The tweet was widely criticized by doctors and medical officials pushing for stricter gun control laws in the wake of the latest mass shooting in the U.S., believing gun violence was their area of expertise, as they are directly involved with people who are shot.

"We are not anti-gun: we are anti-bullet holes in our patients," wrote Dr. Esther Choo of Oregon Health & Science University in response to the NRA's tweet. "We consult with everyone but extremists. Most upsetting, actually, is death and disability from gun violence that is unparalleled in the world."

"Doctors are the ones who work feverishly to staunch the bleeding and SAVE THE LIVES of those who are shot by the guns that the NRA loves so much. Gun violence literally *is* medicine's lane," said Dr. Dena Grayson.

Gynecologist Jen Gunter added, "Who do you think removes bullets from spines and repairs (or tries to) livers blasted by an AR-15? The tooth fairy? This literally is medicine's lane."

Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, asked the NRA: "Where are you when I'm having to tell all those families their loved one has died?"

The NRA dismissed the criticisms from medical professionals, adding that the control policies it advocated for "are already the law in California" and did not prevent the tragedy.

"The so-called 'uproar' on twitter or what could [be] characterized as a normal exchange of emotions and uninformed opinions has nothing to do with the substance of the article being promoted in the tweet. It's clear form the comments that they didn't read the article," NRA spokesperson Jennifer Bakertold told CNN.

"It's just another example of gun control advocates with the help of the mainstream media blaming law abiding gun owners for the criminal acts of deranged people and exploiting tragedy to push a gun control agenda that would not prevent these crimes."