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.

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 Open to All US High School Students With At Least $15,000 in Total Awards

Bill Durston2023-01-06T08:53:59-08:00

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 Open to All US High School Students With At Least $15,000 in Total AwardsBill Durston2023-01-06T08:53:59-08:00

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

Nov 17, 2022

A Two-Word Summary of the Supreme Court’s New One-Step Test for the Constitutionality of Gun Laws: “Blatant Hypocrisy”

Bill Durston2022-11-17T20:52:39-08:00

A Two-Word Summary of the Supreme Court’s New One-Step Test for the Constitutionality of Gun Laws: "Blatant Hypocrisy" A Message from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, in its entirety: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. For most of our nation’s history, courts used [...]

A Two-Word Summary of the Supreme Court’s New One-Step Test for the Constitutionality of Gun Laws: “Blatant Hypocrisy”Bill Durston2022-11-17T20:52:39-08:00

Jun 24, 2022

Americans Against Gun Violence Condemns Supreme Court Ruling

Bill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:45-07:00

Press Release Americans Against Gun Violence Condemns Supreme Court Ruling that New York’s Requirement for Special Permit to Carry Concealed Handguns Violates the Second Amendment Sacramento California, September June 23, 2022: Americans Against Gun Violence condemns the 6-3 ruling issued by the Supreme Court today in the case of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen (NYSRPA v. Bruen) that New York’s requirement for a special permit to carry a concealed handgun [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Condemns Supreme Court RulingBill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:45-07:00

May 30, 2022

Announcing the Winners of our 2022 National High School Essay Contest

Bill Durston2023-01-06T08:56:25-08:00

Americans Against Gun Violence is pleased to announce the winners of our 2022 National High School Essay Contest, which was open to all U.S. high school students. To enter the contest, students were required to submit an original essay of 500 words or fewer by April 16, 2022, describing their thoughts about the following statement made by the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger during an interview on the PBS News Hour on December 16, [...]

Announcing the Winners of our 2022 National High School Essay ContestBill Durston2023-01-06T08:56:25-08:00

May 27, 2022

“Seeking Refuge” – Another Horrific Mass Shooting…and Another Tragically Prescient Essay by a High School Student

Bill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:45-07:00

A Message from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence It was just over a week ago - a few days after the horrific mass shooting in which an 18 year old white supremacist targeted African Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people and wounding three others - that I posted message concerning what had turned out to be a tragically prescient winning essay that a 9th grade high school student in Arizona [...]

“Seeking Refuge” – Another Horrific Mass Shooting…and Another Tragically Prescient Essay by a High School StudentBill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:45-07:00

May 26, 2022

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to Mass Shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas

Bill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:45-07:00

Sacramento California, May 26, 2022: Americans Against Gun Violence extends our heartfelt sympathy to the families, friends, classmates, and colleagues of all the victims of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24. We also send sincere wishes for a prompt and complete recovery to the victims who suffered non-fatal injuries. As the late Senator Thomas Dodd stated more than half a century ago, though, in June of 1968: Pious condolences will no longer [...]

Americans Against Gun Violence Responds to Mass Shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TexasBill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:45-07:00

May 18, 2022

A Tragically Prescient Essay by a Ninth Grade High School Student

Bill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:46-07:00

A message from the President of Americans Against Gun Violence May 18, 2022 We’d scheduled a Zoom call weeks in advance for the evening of Sunday, May 15, to make the final decision concerning the winners in this year’s Americans Against Gun Violence National High School Essay Contest. The prompt for the contest was the following statement made by the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger during an interview on the PBS NewsHour [...]

A Tragically Prescient Essay by a Ninth Grade High School StudentBill Durston2022-10-09T13:43:46-07:00

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