Boston Mayor Wants to Require Doctors to ask if Patients own Guns

Ammoland ^ | 14 January, 2019 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh wants to mandate that Doctors teach patients about gun safety. It appears to be another Orwellian definition. Gun safety in these circumstances seems to mean getting rid of guns. There is no mention of using known gun safety experts who have been working on the subject for decades. From bizjournals.com:

Involving doctors in gun safety: This act would require medical professionals to ask patients about guns in the home, and bring up the topics of gun safety. The goal, Boston Police Commissioner William Gross said, is to identify those at risk for domestic violence, suicide or child access to guns in order to guide people to mental health counseling, resources or other help. “We’re just asking them to help identify ways to save lives,” Gross said.

The fact that a patient owns guns would not be put in their medical record, and is not intended to have physicians help solve crimes.

Chief of Health and Human Services Marty Martinez said that while the program is already common practice at many of the city’s community health centers, legislation would broaden the program statewide.

The claim is the ownership of guns will not be put in a patients medical records. If not, how will the ownership of guns help to “guide people to mental health counseling, resources, or other help”?  Maybe the information will be stored somewhere else.

[Pollster1]

Or you can calmly say, "No, I don’t own guns." and effortlessly move on with your life in under two seconds of time.

My youngest daughter, when she was 12 y/o, responded: "Yes." That startled me until she added: "My brother has an annoying Nerf gun, but I hid all his darts."

[Clutch Martin]

Stsnd up at attention, begin marching in place. Repeat scene from “Full Metal Jacket” This is my rifle, this is my gun..

[SirFishalot]

I seriously doubt my Primary would ever ask me that question. We both shoot at the same indoor range, LOL.

[simpson96]

More liberal overreach. They can't stop themselves.

Trump is going to cruise to re-election in 2020.

[ZULU]

https://www.guns.com/news/2019/01/14/oregon-bill-would-cap-magazines-to-5-rds-ration-ammo-to-20-rds-month

The DemonRats are on a roll. They want to disarm the peasants before the re-enact
1776 when the Rats start confiscating their salaries and homes to achieve their
Socialist goals.

[Jimmu]

This was always part of the hidden agenda behind Obamacare. If we are all REQUIRED to have insurance, and the govt is subsidizing the insurance companies with tax dollars, then the government has to power to require those companies to jump through the governments hoops to get the subsidies. So if the government announces to the insurance companies that they must, inquire and report gun ownership as a condition of coverage, the companies, and by extension, the doctors will comply. Then, of course, its not the government trying to ban your guns, its the insurance companies ... private businesses, so the constitution is still intact.

[Blue Jays]

"...malpractice laws..."

---

You clearly have an abundance of time if you are eager to launch malpractice lawsuits (plus still have your firearms ownership status publicized) against your doctors.

I like my longtime doctors. They are superb at what they do.
If the government mandates them to ask me firearms questions, I will simply reply, "No, I do not have guns." and we will continue the top-notch medical care.

[Bob434]

whatever bluejay- we are protected by malpractice laws from doctors lying about us- do what you like- i don’t care to lie or answer the question-

[circlecity]

What possible cause of action could you ever have for Malpractice in this scenario? And even if you did, what damages could you blackboard? No lawyer would ever take such a case on a contingency basis.

[Vaquero]

My family doctor is a gun guy. We have had conversations about calibers and types of firearms for years. I don’t have a problem with him. No other specialist has asked a firearm question I would probably walk out of a doctor’s office if questioned like that. I’d most like make a comment.

At this point in time I’m a MOLON LABE guy not a run and hide guy.

[jim_trent]

I doubt that I could get away with saying “No”. I ran into my doctor at Scheel’s when we were both buying bullets for handloading.

[Blue Jays]

"...run and hide..."

---

Helping ensure a massive government database (about citizens’s guns) has incorrect information added to it is not running and hiding by my assessment.

[Blue Jays]

"...what damages could you blackboard?..."

---

Exactly correct, circlecity.
That FReeper is going to sue the doctor for $100M for having misheard the response to a Yes/No question. LOL.

[Squantos]

Only if we’re required to tell the Doctor we caught an STD from the Mayors, Wife , Mother, Sister or Daughter ..... twice.

[Vaquero]

Helping ensure a massive government database (about citizens’s guns) has incorrect information added to it is not running and hiding by my assessment

I’m already a know quantity…what with being a CCW holder and having passed a NICS background check many times.

My health care provider, though, should provide me health care and not pry into the exercising of my personal, constitutional rights

[nonliberal]

They should say that the jackbooted thug police commissioner wants doctors to ask. That is the real threat.

[ManHunter]

My former [emphasis added] personal physician was also a friend and hunting buddy. I got tired of him “trying” his prescription solutions on things that didn’t need treatment with drugs and finally told him, “Damnit Mark, I’m not your chemistry experiment. If you don’t know what’s wrong, just say so.”

[ManHunter]

Hey, they’re more than welcome to ask and we are free to reply, “That’s none of your f*cking business!”

[Blue Jays]

"...healthcare provider..."

---

Doctors are not asking these patient background questions necessarily of their own choice, they are being compelled to ask them by forces beyond their control.

The reason you don’t wish to supply accurate content is because government agents can more easily cross-reference the content if you ever were to see a psychologist or psychiatrist for even something minor.

It is not about being truthful with your longtime doctor. It is about not providing the enormous government database (where content will find a home bundled with medical details and healthcare info) every last precise detail. Some topics in life are personal and/or should be compartmentalized.