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.

Sep 08, 2023

Make Your Reservations to Attend Our 2023 Annual Dinner Featuring a Keynote Address by Dr. Michael North of Scotland

Bill Durston2023-09-08T16:05:53-07:00

Reservations are now open for our 2023 Americans Against Gun Violence Annual Dinner. The dinner, which is being co-hosted by the Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility, will be held on the evening of Saturday, October 21, at the Hilton Arden West, 2200 Harvard Street, in Sacramento. Doors open for social hour, including a no-host bar, at 6:00 PM PDT, dinner will be served at 7:00, and the program, featuring a keynote address by [...]

Make Your Reservations to Attend Our 2023 Annual Dinner Featuring a Keynote Address by Dr. Michael North of ScotlandBill Durston2023-09-08T16:05:53-07:00

Aug 22, 2023

Americans Against Gun Violence Calls on the Supreme Court Once Again to Reverse a Death Sentence, Wrongly Decided, for Tens of Thousands of Americans Annually

Bill Durston2023-09-09T03:36:13-07:00

Sacramento, August 23, 2023: Americans Against Gun Violence filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief on Monday in the Supreme Court case of United States v. Rahimi. In this case, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a federal law prohibiting individuals subject to a domestic violence restraining order (DVRO) from owning a gun violates the Second Amendment. Earlier this year, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of Zackey [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Calls on the Supreme Court Once Again to Reverse a Death Sentence, Wrongly Decided, for Tens of Thousands of Americans AnnuallyBill Durston2023-09-09T03:36:13-07:00

Jun 30, 2023

Announcing the Winners of our 2023 National High School Essay Contest

Bill Durston2023-06-30T13:01:25-07:00

Americans Against Gun Violence congratulates the winners of our 2023 National High School Essay Contest. To enter this year’s contest, students were asked to submit an essay of 500 words or fewer in response to the following prompt, which was chosen based in part on input from some of our past essay contest winners: “Describe your thoughts about lockdown drills conducted in response to the threat of shootings on American school campuses.” We received over [...]

Announcing the Winners of our 2023 National High School Essay ContestBill Durston2023-06-30T13:01:25-07:00

Apr 13, 2023

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to Mass Shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky

Bill Durston2023-04-13T10:22:22-07:00

Sacramento California, April 13, 2023: We at Americans Against Gun Violence extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families, friends, and colleagues of the five staff members who were killed in the mass shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 10, 2023. We also send our sincere wishes for a prompt and complete recovery to the eight other people who were wounded, including police officer Nickolas Wilt, who was critically wounded by [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to Mass Shooting at the Old National Bank in Louisville, KentuckyBill Durston2023-04-13T10:22:22-07:00

Apr 03, 2023

What To Tell Our Children (Truthfully) About School Shootings

Bill Durston2023-04-03T22:01:04-07:00

In the aftermath of the mass shooting in which three nine-year-old children and three staff members were killed by a former student at a church affiliated elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, the PBS NewsHour conducted an interview with a child psychologist, Dr. Tori Cordiano, in which the interviewer, Amna Nawaz, asked Dr. Cordiano what parents and caregivers should tell their children about school shootings. Dr. Cordiano replied: You can start with, “I want to tell [...]

What To Tell Our Children (Truthfully) About School ShootingsBill Durston2023-04-03T22:01:04-07:00

Mar 28, 2023

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to Mass Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee

Bill Durston2023-03-28T11:14:31-07:00

Sacramento California, March 28, 2023: We at Americans Against Gun Violence extend heartfelt sympathy to the families, friends, classmates, and colleagues of the three young children and the three staff members who were killed in the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27, 2023. We also extend our sympathy to the entire Nashville community. At the same time, though, we wish to point out that such tragedies are preventable, [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to Mass Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, TennesseeBill Durston2023-03-28T11:14:31-07:00

Jan 13, 2023

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to the Adoption of Illinois Assault Weapon and Large Capacity Magazine Ban

Bill Durston2023-01-13T21:52:20-08:00

Sacramento California, September January 13, 2023: Americans Against Gun Violence commends the Illinois State Legislature for passing HB 5471 and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker for signing this bill into law on January 9, 2023. The bill, also known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act and enrolled as Public Act 102-1116, includes both an assault weapons ban and a ban on large capacity magazines. This law is a significant step forward - from a symbolic point [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to the Adoption of Illinois Assault Weapon and Large Capacity Magazine BanBill Durston2023-01-13T21:52:20-08:00

Jan 06, 2023

Our 2023 National High School Essay Contest is Now Closed to New Entries – Winners Will Be Notified On or About May 15

Bill Durston2023-06-30T06:16:50-07:00

Essay Topic To enter the 2023 Americans Against Gun Violence National High School Essay Contest, students must submit an original essay of 500 words or fewer in response to the following prompt: “Describe your thoughts about lockdown drills conducted in response to the threat of shootings on American school campuses.” The essay contest prompt is intentionally open-ended. Students may write about any aspect of lockdown drills and the threat of school shootings that they feel [...]

Our 2023 National High School Essay Contest is Now Closed to New Entries – Winners Will Be Notified On or About May 15Bill Durston2023-06-30T06:16:50-07:00

Dec 15, 2022

An Open Letter to the PBS NewsHour Concerning Its Reporting on the 10th Anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre

Bill Durston2022-12-15T18:04:16-08:00

From the President of Americans Against Gun Violence Dear PBS NewsHour, Is the interview that William Brangham conducted on December 14, 2022, with Nicole Hockley, the devastated mother of Dylan Hockley, one of the 20 children murdered in the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012, the best that the PBS NewsHour can do on the 10th anniversary of this preventable tragedy? And is “helping students identify and [...]

An Open Letter to the PBS NewsHour Concerning Its Reporting on the 10th Anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School MassacreBill Durston2022-12-15T18:04:16-08:00

Dec 06, 2022

False Assertions in December 3, 2022 Interview on NPR About Gun Violence Prevention

Bill Durston2022-12-06T22:56:54-08:00

NPR aired an interview this past weekend (December 3, 2022) with gun violence researcher Eric Fleegler in which several false assertions were made. In introducing Dr. Fleegler, the interviewer, Sarah McCammon, referred to a “new study” published by Dr. Fleegler and his co-authors in the Journal of the American Medical Association concerning firearm related deaths in the United States over the past 30 years. A transcript of the essay was posted on the NPR website [...]

False Assertions in December 3, 2022 Interview on NPR About Gun Violence PreventionBill Durston2022-12-06T22:56:54-08:00

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