Following a much-publicized nuclear power plant accident 30 years ago, the company responsible for the explosion distributed a cookbook to improve its public image. One of the cookbook's recipes was subsequently ridiculed in a popular folk song, where the refrain repeated that trusting the recipe for "apple pie in a pressure cooker" from a nuclear power plant operator just didn't sound quite right.

As I listen from the sidelines to the debates around Dr. Vivek Murthy's confirmation hearings for U.S. surgeon general, I can't help but remember the discomfort that old song stirred in me. The National Rifle Association, which actively opposes Murthy's appointment because of his support for gun safety measures, is not the agency I would choose to be offering up a recipe for the public's health.

I'm a family doctor in a public hospital. Many of my patients have been affected by gun violence. I have pediatric patients who have seen siblings die or who have learned to take care of their disabled parents; I have lost patients to suicides from their families' deadly weapons. And like the rest of the nation, I tremble, horrified, after each mass killing occurs in a theater, in a school, on a sidewalk or at a summer camp. As much as any physician, I understand the myriad and dramatic health consequences of gun violence.

So these days it's hard for me to sit quietly on the sidelines as Congress gets bullied by special interest groups. Not content with bullying tactics on gun policy, gun lobbyists are now bullying us out of an excellent candidate for U.S. surgeon general. Murthy is a proven leader and thoughtful expert who uses evidence to create public health recommendations across multiple domains.

Consistent with the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians and National Physicians Alliance, Murthy supports commonsense, evidence-based laws to decrease gun violence. These organizations' opinions are based on the facts: Beyond my small slice of patients, over 30,000 people die from gunshot wounds annually and 60,000 more people suffer nonfatal injuries from gunshots. Guns are projected to become the leading cause of death for people between ages 15 and 24 in 2015.

As a nation, we have agreed to regulations that decrease vehicle-related injuries and deaths, but we're stuck on adopting rational gun laws. Let's get unstuck: When choosing a surgeon general, should special interest groups wield more influence than qualified experts in health care?

Gun violence isn't a curable disease, but it is treatable. Mass shootings where assault weapons or large-capacity ammunition magazines are used result in more people killed than when assault weapons aren't used. And based on the evidence, we know that some people have a significantly higher risk of committing firearm-related crimes and suicides. A ban on assault weapons and some thoughtful restrictions about firearm eligibility criteria, such as a simple background check on every gun sale, could help prevent suicides and other gun-related deaths. These ideas aren't extremist - they're good public health.

We will all benefit from a great surgeon general. Yielding to special interest groups is worse than apple pie in a pressure cooker: It's bad medicine.