Good answer, good answer...I like the way you think.
Posted on 07/30/2014 12:46:11 PM PDT by Q-ManRN
As a pediatrician, I have one, straightforward professional obligation: to safeguard and support the health and wellbeing of my patients. In my case, those patients are children, but you could change the age range of the people coming into the office and apply that statement to any medical provider.
Asking about guns in the house is no exception. When I ask parents if there are firearms in the home, and if so how they are secured, it is for the sole purpose of keeping their children safe.
Physicians in Florida are being threatened with a law that, if enacted, will seriously hamper their ability to do their jobs. The Firearms Owners' Privacy Act, passed in 2011, would subject medical providers to fines and a potential loss of licensure for asking patients about gun ownership or recording that information in the medical record if it is not “relevant to the patient's medical care or safety.”
Gun advocacy groups such as the National Rifle Association have long opposed the AAP’s efforts to strengthen gun laws. But the Florida law has no effect on gun ownership or access. Its insidious reach enters into medical offices and chokes off the free-speech rights of the people trying to work there.
As much as the NRA and its ilk want to deny it, having a gun in the home is a risk factor for serious injury or death. Acknowledging that fact is not the same thing as taking the gun away. The Florida law seeks to “protect” gun owners from even having to be informed about truths they’d prefer to ignore, and seeks to cast medical providers in an unflattering light for having the temerity to question them.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
The point is that the doctor should not be asking at all. If parents have a question or concern about firearms, they can choose to speak with their doctor. That solves the issue altogether.
Viennacon said “Never leave your kid unattended with a doc. They could be a member of the Obamacare gun registry mafia. And if they ask you about it, say ‘None of your business, scum!’”
Agreed as a conversation starts, but I also instill in my kids when someone crosses a line and many of those lessons revolve around our constitution and those that are shredding it.
That's nice Doc. Since our time together in the exam room will likely be short, howzabout you just deal with the problem(s) that caused me to visit you in the first place, mmmkay? You're not my overseer, you're a physician. Do what I'm paying you to do - diagnose and treat physical problems.
I remind the “good doctor” that the NRA is an organization devoted to safety whereas the Amer Acad of Pediatrics seems increasingly interested in political advocacy and less and less interested in childrens’ health.
I’ve never had a pediatrician ask me about guns.
But in fairness I have had them ask me about car safety. Specifically child car seats, location in the vehicle, whether they were installed by me or the police/fire dept.
BS. None of these "professionals" need to inquire about individual ownership if safety were truly their motivation.
They could simply offer their safety tips without knowing who owns what. That would be mildly annoying, but if they aren't probing for personal info, then there's no threat of ulterior motives.
After all, a non gun owner parent might have relatives with firearms, so visiting grandma or bitter clinger Uncle Bob would be "risky". A a non gun owner parent might buy a gun long before he or she brings the little tyke in for another appointment, so looky there, more parents flying right under this doctor's gun radar. Etc.
So, if this guy is truly concerned about the children, he would give his generic gun safety spiel to all parents without the probing questions, but...
Do they ask whether they have a swimming pool? Do they ask whether they have a gas grill? Do they ask whether they have a fireplace? Do they ask whether they have stairs? Do they ask whether they keep a gasoline can in the garage? Do they ask whether they have candles?
If they are only asking about a firearm, then the motive is other than “to keep the children safe”, IMHO.
http://www.2asisters.org/PhysicianAffidavit.pdf
have them sign this form - it should make them pucker HARD
Bullsh!t.
If that were the case, the author would also question the parents closely about usage of safety belts and child safety seats when driving, usage of proper headgear when riding a bicycle or tricycle, the presence and accessibility of swimming pools in the neighborhood, the presence of unattended five-gallon buckets in the home, and so on... because a legitimate interest in safety involves all these things. They are all as dangerous or more dangerous to children than are guns.
The absence of such questions from the doctor's interview is, on the face of it, evidence that the gun question isn't driven by a concern for safety. And if I had to pick a choice for the reason why it's there, politics would be my top pick.
Firearms save a life every five seconds so why should they ask?
Do they ask if there is a bath tub in the house? Did you know that a child left unattended in a tub can drown? /sarc
How about scissors? Do you know that scissors can be used to
fatally cut? /more sarc
This isn’t about safety....
Thank you, Doc. I appreciate the compliment and your support. I also appreciate your point about Obamacare. Physicians already have too much regulatory nonsense to deal with without Obamacare.
I still think “That’s none of my business.” works. It’s polite, and yet a little b**** slap is implied.
That’s a great answer! I love it. If he persists, change your countenance, look him/her strait in the eye, and say, “how far are you willing to take this?” Of course, then he could just call you crazy and you’d earn a no knock raid.
In the end what happened?
“My pediatrician never asked us about firearms because he left his political views at home where they belonged.”
You have stated the issue EXACTLY right! `Docs vs Glocks’ isn’t about safety, it’s about gun control & abuse of one’s professional authority.
And.....if Obamacare advances to its final conclusion, patient records will become government dossiers on citizens, with physicians as informants.
Again, well stated.
Don’t forget about five gallon buckets. They kill children by the plane load!
So we have trained journalists who can’t differentiate a shotgun from an AR or a Glock from a revolver and now, on the basis of some kids description of what might be a power drill or a hair dryer, a medical professional is going to be able to report the presence of a gun in a house.
Cool plan.
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