Aww, I was kind of proud to check "Yes" on that question when I first took my daughter to the pediatrician.
So right now you if you bring your kid in for an ear infection, you're asked if you own a gun? To what end? And if you lie and say no...are you committing some kind of crime? This is confusing.
Guns? Sure, and we have a game where we spread them all over the floor, and the first kid to match up all the guns with the right ammunition gets to shoot somebody.
"We don't have an opinion or issue an opinion on guns," Ellwood said. "We don't say it is a bad thing to have around children. Our plan is always to find out how the guns are managed in the household so they are safe."
in otherwords we just want to control what you have in your home.
Another example of the government telling people how they can talk to other people.....
I have mixed feelings about this law. One one hand, it is an effort to counter the idea that gun ownership is a "health" issue, another tactic by which the gun-grabbers seek to marginalize gun ownership and legitimize further restrictions on ownership. To that extent, I sympathize with the law. On the other hand, it criminalizes the mere asking of a question, and to that extent reminds me of ominous trends in Left-wing legislation, such as laws prohibiting landlords from asking certain questions of prospective tenants. So this cuts both ways, in my opinion.
The odds of a child dying in your swimming pool are 100 times greater than dying from a gun.
Will the Docs ask about swimming pools, or are they just guilt mongers for the politically correct?
We need a law for this? What happened to the ability to say "why is that any of your business?"
If the medical professionals had their way, we'd all be in superb health doing our state mandated exercise regimen in our straight jackets, protected from dangerous objects and harmful behaviors. If history is any indication, doctors and social engineering make a bad mix.
Given that medical records are going to be computerized and follow you around all your life, and given that health care could be taken over by the government and given that employers are now using health care information as an excuse to harass workers, be careful what you tell doctors about the legal activity of your personal life.
What business is it of a doctor to know whether or not you own a gun? There are a lot of nosey p.c. questions now asked by doctors that is none of their business.
Supporting the state mandating how an individual must practice his craft, and what he can and can't say - can cut both ways. Witness phamacists in MA being required to carry kill pills.
Either you stand for free speech or you don't and must accept majority rule setting limits or mandates on what you must say.
An outside issue is related to abortions, because state interest in protecting people from being killed, the state doing a really lame ass job of trying to prevent it by requiring information be shared is a reasonable temporary half-measure.
I've been asked this by my children's pediatrician as well as my endocrinologist. With my children's doc, I just replied that I refuse to answer the question. I was pressed by a nurse once and simply told her it was none of their business.
My endocrinologist asked me this on a patient information sheet. I just wrote a note that said "I fail to see how this pertains to the treatment of my thyroid."
I always just say no. But if they're asking kids that's different.
And here I thought the left cared about privacy.
PHYSICIAN OR EDUCATOR QUALIFICATIONS AND LIABILITY
FIREARMS SAFETY COUNSELING REPRESENTATION:
PHYSICIAN QUALIFICATIONS AND LIABILITY
Part One: Qualifications
I affirm that I am certified to offer
(Name of Patient:__________________________________________________ ),
herineafter referred to as "the Patient", qualified advice about firearms safety in the home, having received:
Specify Course(s) of Study:
_____________________________________________________________ from:
Specify Institution(s)
__________________________________________________________________ on:
Specify Course Completion Date(s):
______________________________________________________ resulting in:
Specify Accreditation(s), Certification(s), License(s) etc.:
_______________________________________
Check one, as appropriate:
___ I represent that I have reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use and beneficial results of private firearms ownership. I further represent that I have reviewed all other relevant home safety issues with the Patient, including those relating to electricity, drains, disposals, compactors, garage doors, driveway safety, pool safety, pool fence codes and special locks for pool gates, auto safety, gas, broken glass, stored cleaning chemicals, buckets, toilets, sharp objects, garden tools, home tools, power tools, lawnmowers, lawn chemicals, scissors, needles, forks, knives, etc. I also acknowledge, by receiving this document, I have been made aware that, in his inaugural address before the American Medical Association on June 20, 2001, new president Richard Corlin, MD, admitted "What we don't know about violence and guns is literally killing us...researchers do not have the data to tell how kids get guns, if trigger locks work, what the warning signs of violence in schools and at the workplace are and other critical questions due to lack of research funding." (UPI). In spite of this admission, I represent that I have sufficient data and expertise to provide expert and clinically sound advice to patients regarding firearms in the home.
OR
___ I am knowingly engaging in Home/Firearms Safety Counseling without certification, license or formal training in Risk Management, and; I have not reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use and beneficial results of private firearms ownership.
Part Two:
Liability
I have determined, from a review of my medical malpractice insurance, that if I engage in an activity for which I am not certified, such as Firearms Safety Counseling, the carrier (check one, as appropriate):
___ will
___ will not
cover lawsuits resulting from neglect, lack of qualification, etc.
Insurance Carrier name, address and policy number insuring me for firearms safety expertise:
____________________________________________________________________________________
I further warrant that, should the Patient follow my firearm safety counseling and remove from the home and/or disable firearms with trigger locks or other mechanisms, and if the patient or a family member, friend or visitor is subsequently injured or killed as a result of said removal or disabling, that my malpractice insurance and/or personal assets will cover all actual and punitive damages resulting from a lawsuit initiated by the patient, the patient's legal reprerentative, or the patient's survivors.
Signature of attesting physician and date:
___________________________________________________
Name of attesting physician (please print):
__________________________________________________
Signature of patient and date:
____________________________________________________________
Name of patient (please print):
____________________________________________________________
Note to patient: Indicate if physician "REFUSED TO SIGN." Ask physician to place copy in chart/medical record.
Risk Management Advice to Physicians and Malpractice Insurance Providers: Don't Borrow Trouble
© 2000 by Joe Horn crowtalk@theriver.com
I'm glad my kids' pediatrician is a conservative and my personal doctor has hunting magazines in the waiting room. If your doctor is a gun banning lib, get another doctor. (I know, when your kid is sick that, interviewing a doctor is a low priority).
As much as I despise gun control laws, I don't see a problem with this. The doctors aren't trying to be politically corect gun grabbers. They want to help parents to be aware of fire arms safety so the doctor doesn't have to work on the kids in the ER because someone wasn't practicing good fire arms safety in their home. Most people are responsible, but some may be ignorant things that would reduce the likelihood of their kids getting hurt by accident. The doctors are only trying to prevent harm and aren't out to take away anyone's guns. It's like asking if the cleaning chemicals are safely stored or if perscription medication is sitting out in the open where little kids might get a hold of it. Things like that.
I'll take my safety counseling on firearms from the NRA, not the AMA - thank you very much.
Should the state disallow pediatricians from asking parents about gun ownership?
Yes
50.04%
No
47.84%
Undecided
2.13%
Total: 1363 votes