Dean L. Winslow, a former Air Force colonel and flight surgeon who teaches medicine at Stanford, was nominated by President Donald Trump in September to be the next assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. Last week, he rescinded his appointment after his views on gun laws — which run counter to the Trump administration's — led to his confirmation being railroaded.
As Winslow wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post, his confirmation hearing was scheduled the day after the Sutherland Springs church shooting Texas — and in a moment of grief during a question on gun laws, spoke "what was in [his] heart."
"I’d also like to . . . just say how insane it is that in the United States of America a civilian can go out and buy a semiautomatic weapon like an AR-15," Winslow told Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). He was interrupted by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who insisted gun law was not his "area of responsibility or expertise."
Winslow's nomination was put on hold following his comments, and earlier in December, McCain confirmed that the Armed Services Committee he chairs could put his confirmation on hold indefinitely.
"To be sure, my testimony was impolitic," Winslow wrote, saying that common knowledge posits that the subjects of Senate confirmation hearings "reveal little to nothing." He also acknowledges that his comments on legal "therapeutic abortions" for women in the military in the case of medical emergencies "helped to torpedo [his] appointment."
"Nevertheless, I have no regrets," he continued. "Having semiautomatic weapons makes no sense. It is a public-health issue that, as a doctor, I felt compelled to bring to the Senate’s attention."
"I am saddened that our government has become so dominated by pro-gun lobbyists that an appointment such as mine — which has no responsibility for gun control — can be sidelined by a single sentence of informed, personal opinion," Winslow concluded. "And that really is insane."
You can watch video of Winslow's gun comments during his confirmation hearing below.