We went to him to discuss our medical concerns and then he could identify safety issues that were relevant to those concerns. There were an immense number of potential safety issues that we never discussed. For example, getting hit by a train even though there were train tracks near our house. My pediatrician would have known that that job was the responsibility of my parents.
Responsible parents that own firearms are aware that accidents can happen with a firearm just like any number of dangerous objects in their home. They do not need a physician to educate them about that fact. There are already a wealth of resources and options readily available to those parents. And criminals are not going to discuss storing their illegal firearms used in crimes with doctors.
My pediatrician never asked us about firearms because he left his political views at home where they belonged. The current debate over the ownership and use of firearms is taking place in legislatures and courts around our nation. That is where that debate belongs, not in our doctors' offices. Professional speech for healthcare workers is properly limited in order to ensure that they do not interject their personal political desires into their professional relationships.
Dr. Saunders exemplifies why these limits are necessary with political statements like "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." or "By upholding this disgraceful law, the 11th Circuit Court has demonstrated allegiance to an ideology that favors the Second Amendment..." Do your patients a favor doc and keep your political ideology out of your professional practice.
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!”
2nd Amendment Florida ping
Axe away pal.
I got nuttin to say.
Any doctor so interrogating me is going to get his feelings hurt.
Does he ask whether they live in a dangerous neighborhood? Whether their school provides security?
Patients have the right to tell you it’s none of your business. And to change doctors.
You do not have a “right” to ask about guns.
In a world where cakemakers are forced to serve gay marriages against their will I don’t want to hear condescending lectures from my doctor.
Excellent post. I’m a physician. If I had to cover all the potential risks to life and limb with my patients I would never get around to addressing problems that really matter, especially when Obamacare will necessitate I spend about 5 minutes with each patient and get paid for only 90 seconds of that visit.
We have multiple generations and lots of children in them in my family that have owned firearms and to date not one accidental death or injury has occurred.
My kids are never alone with their doctor so the question will be handled by me and dependent on the mood I am in.
My daughter has had her own gun since she was 6 with never so mush as an accidental misfire when practicing. She is safer with a gun than a 25 year old woman with a crazed boyfriend or estranged husband is without.
Yo “Doc”. Do you also ask about the kids riding in motor vehicles, playing on slides or “monkey bars”? How about if there are any “recreational drugs” in the home? Or hot dogs that kids can choke on or peanut butter that can cause a serious allergic reaction. Then there are those big screen TVs that can fall over and crush the child. And what about...
As much as the Liberals and their ilk want to deny it, having a sharpened pencil in the home is a risk factor for serious injury or death.....
Had any doctor ever asked such a question, my kid would have had a different pediatrician before close of business that day.
You’re right, Doc. You have every right to ask. And I have every right to refuse to tell you, to tell you to mind your own business, or to just plain lie.
My doctor talked to me about gun ownership the last time I saw him. He’d just picked up a nice Mauser in 7x57. We talk motorcycles a lot also.
So ... do you ask about bleach, motor oil, radiator coolant, windex, buy spray, transmission fluid, etc? Hmmm do you?
Illegal aliens won’t be asked question about their legal status, so they can be free to report crime.
Gun owners will not be free from being questioned about their gun ownership, so they can be free to seek health care.
Equal rights! LOL
Not the Doctor's job. That's the job of parents. An MD provides medical assistance. His claims are ridiculous on their face.
What to advise children about gun questions from physicians or at schools is not an easy thing. It’s not good to teach them to lie, and if they say it’s none of your business, they are being disrespectful towards adults.
Perhaps the best thing for a child to say is, “That’s none of my business.”
This response is neither lying nor disrespectful. It is, in fact, entirely true, because it is not the children’s business to be caught between their parents and government busybodies.
It it also a lesson to the questioners, because it’s none of their business, either.
With the advent of the electronic medical record, never tell your doctor anything you do not want the government to know. All the hospital and doctors offices medical records will connected to a data base that will be opened by any government entity for “national security” reasons. The government has destroyed doctor patient confidentiality.