Bill Durston – Americans Against Gun Violence

About Bill Durston

Bill Durston, M.D., is a board certified emergency physician who has treated innumerable civilian gunshot victims during a medical career spanning more than 40 years. Before becoming a physician, Durston served in combat with the U.S. Marine Corps during the height of the Vietnam War. He qualified as an expert marksman in the Marines and was decorated for "courage under fire" as a patrol leader with the Marines' prestigious Third Force Reconnaissance Company. Dr. Durston has worked in the area of gun violence prevention with numerous organizations, both medical and non-medical, throughout his career. In 2016, he co-founded Americans Against Gun Violence to fill the need for a national organization that would openly advocate adopting stringent gun control laws in the United States comparable to the laws that have long been in effect in all the other high income democratic countries of the world. Dr. Durston continues to serve as the founding president of Americans Against Gun Violence.

Jun 18, 2026

Americans Against Gun Violence congratulates the winners of our 2026 National High School Essay Contest

Bill Durston2026-06-18T19:41:13-07:00

The prompt for this year’s contest was an excerpt from the keynote address that Dr. Michael North delivered at our 2023 annual dinner. Dr. North lost his five-year-old daughter, Sophie, in the mass shooting at the elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland, in 1996, in which Sophie’s teacher and 15 other classmates were also killed. Britain already had a ban on automatic and semi-automatic rifles at the time of the Dunblane shooting, but the shooter, Thomas [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence congratulates the winners of our 2026 National High School Essay ContestBill Durston2026-06-18T19:41:13-07:00

Apr 16, 2026

Another Senseless Shooting by ICE Agents Captured on Video: When will they be held accountable?

Bill Durston2026-04-16T10:38:01-07:00

A Message from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence On the morning of April 7, 2026, ICE Agents shot Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez seven times after pulling him over as he was driving to work on a highway near Patterson, California. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons claimed that Hernandez was a gang member wanted for questioning concerning a murder in El Salvador, that Hernandez “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer [...]

Another Senseless Shooting by ICE Agents Captured on Video: When will they be held accountable?Bill Durston2026-04-16T10:38:01-07:00

Apr 08, 2026

Press Release: Americans Against Gun Violence Applauds Minnesota Officials for Pursuing Evidence in Fatal Shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Federal Agents in January

Bill Durston2026-04-08T15:17:43-07:00

Sacramento, California, March 26, 2026: Minnesota officials, including state Attorney General Keith Ellison and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, announced on March 24 that they were suing the Trump Administration for access to the evidence that the federal government was withholding from them concerning the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents during immigration raids in Minneapolis in January.[i] The federal government had blocked Minnesota officials from directly investigating these shootings [...]

Press Release: Americans Against Gun Violence Applauds Minnesota Officials for Pursuing Evidence in Fatal Shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by Federal Agents in JanuaryBill Durston2026-04-08T15:17:43-07:00

Mar 17, 2026

Inside The Supply Line Delivering American Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels

Bill Durston2026-03-17T17:14:15-07:00

The New York Times published an in depth report on March 17, 2026 by Times journalists Paulina Villegas and Paul Ratje describing how guns from the United States are being funneled in unprecedented numbers to Mexican drug cartels since the beginning of Trump’s second term as President.[1] The lead author, Pauline Villegas, spent weeks interviewing seven drug cartel operatives directly, including two dealers in Arizona and five in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The operatives [...]

Inside The Supply Line Delivering American Guns to Mexican Drug CartelsBill Durston2026-03-17T17:14:15-07:00

Jan 27, 2026

A Second Fatal DHS Shooting in Minneapolis

Bill Durston2026-01-28T15:34:48-08:00

An Update from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence January 27, 2026 On January 24, 2026, a little more than two weeks after a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ICE agent shot and killed 37 year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis, DHS Border Patrol officers shot and killed 37 year-old Alex Pretti. Like Renee Good, Alex Pretti was a U.S. citizen who was attempting to protect fellow Minneapolis residents at the scene of an ICE [...]

A Second Fatal DHS Shooting in MinneapolisBill Durston2026-01-28T15:34:48-08:00

Jan 21, 2026

Will an ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy?

Bill Durston2026-04-08T15:16:04-07:00

Will an ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy? A Message from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence January 21, 2026 (Note: Click on these links for updates on the situation in Minneapolis, including the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol officers on January 24, 2026 and the decison by Minnesota officials to sue the Trump Administration for access to evidence that could lead to [...]

Will an ICE Agent Get Away With Murder in Minneapolis? And Can We Save Our Democracy?Bill Durston2026-04-08T15:16:04-07:00

Jan 04, 2026

Announcing Our 2026 National High School Essay Contest

Bill Durston2026-06-18T16:40:48-07:00

Our 2026 National High School Essay Contest with at least $15,000 in Total Scholarship Awards Is Now Closed for New Entries (The deadline for students to enter the contest was April 18. We're now in the process of selecting the winners. Please return to this page in early June to read the winning essays in this year's contest. Click on the links on the side menu to read past winning essays.) Essay Topic To enter [...]

Announcing Our 2026 National High School Essay ContestBill Durston2026-06-18T16:40:48-07:00

Oct 02, 2025

The Late Charlie Kirk and the Fraudulent Misrepresentation of the Second Amendment: The Connections, the Ironies, and the Deadly Consequences

Bill Durston2025-10-02T13:49:15-07:00

A Message from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence Speaking on the PBS NewsHour in 1991, the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger called the misrepresentation of the Second Amendment, “[O]ne of the greatest pieces of fraud – I repeat the word ‘fraud’ – on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”[1] The consequences of this fraud have been deadly, including for 31 year-old Charlie [...]

The Late Charlie Kirk and the Fraudulent Misrepresentation of the Second Amendment: The Connections, the Ironies, and the Deadly ConsequencesBill Durston2025-10-02T13:49:15-07:00

Aug 28, 2025

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to the Minneapolis Catholic Church School Mass Shooting

Bill Durston2025-08-28T22:20:56-07:00

Sacramento, California, August 28, 2025: We at Americans Against Gun Violence are appalled by the mass shooting at the Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis yesterday in which two students, ages 8 and 12, were killed, and 14 other students and three adults were wounded. We grieve for the victims, for their families, for the victims’ classmates and adult members of the church congregation, for the people of Minneapolis, and for our entire country. The United [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to the Minneapolis Catholic Church School Mass ShootingBill Durston2025-08-28T22:20:56-07:00

Jun 27, 2025

If You Want to Know How to Stop Gun Violence, Read What Our High School Essay Contest Winners Have to Say

Bill Durston2025-10-02T13:27:19-07:00

I have mixed emotions every year when we announce our annual National High School Essay Contest in January and again when we announce the winners in June. On the negative side, it’s shameful that there’s a need for high school students to think and write about our country’s ongoing epidemic of gun violence. Those of us in older generations should have stopped this epidemic long ago. On the positive side, though, I’m glad that we’re [...]

If You Want to Know How to Stop Gun Violence, Read What Our High School Essay Contest Winners Have to SayBill Durston2025-10-02T13:27:19-07:00

12 Next

"Pious condolences will no longer suffice…"

"Quarter measures and half measures will no longer suffice…"

"The time has now come that we must enact stringent gun control legislation…"

"…gun control legislation comparable to the legislation in force in virtually every civilized country in the world."
Senator Thomas Dodd, June 11, 1968