the NRA wants to choose our next surgeon general
WASHINGTON — In recent years, the National Rifle Assn. has stepped into fights over judicial nominees it views as weak on 2nd Amendment rights, but its decision to oppose a surgeon general nominee takes the powerful lobby into new territory, expanding its campaign to a post that has no direct power to regulate guns.
President Obama's nominee, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, a Massachusetts internist and former emergency room doctor, has called for more stringent gun laws. But he also testified at his Senate confirmation hearing last month that he would not use the surgeon general's office as a bully pulpit to push for them.
The NRA, though, has pledged to block his appointment, arguing that it reflects the Obama administration's intent to extend the gun control debate to new arenas.
"Gun owners in this country don't have a guarantee that this surgeon general will not engage the gun issue," NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nra-surgeon-general-20140322,0,1846553.story#ixzz2whCBLtft
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