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Doctors and Asking about guns...Glob today

If a doctor asks you about guns, ask the doctor if he has a mistress. The only way to get to them is to make them more uncomfortable than they make us.
 
My doc never asked me directly about firearms but, during a general interview, he asked me what hobbies I had. I told him I shoot and collect high-power rifles. He was quiet for a moment, laid his pen down, and then asked me what AR lower I preferred! Turns out he was an AR shooter/builder himself and we struck up a nice conversation after that.

Rome
 
Some of my customers are doctors - GPs, Surgeons, Chiropractors, etc. Naturally, they think it isn't anyones business if you own a firearm or not. The only time they would ask me about firearms is if they were looking for advice or an opinion.
 
Doctor asked about my gun, so I pulled it out. Then he asked be to cough.....
 
I had conjunctivitis in one eye last week and since my PCP was off attending some classes, I headed to one of the outpatient care clinics.

Chatting with the PA, he tells me that his home was broken into a couple of weeks ago and he just discovered his Passport was missing. He said that he went into the 1st floor after he noticed the break-in, called the police and was reluctant to go upstairs until the police arrived since he had guns up there. He lives in RI, so it was a non-issue . . . and they didn't steal any guns.

Next time I have to go there for treatment, I sense the beginning of an interesting discussion. [smile]
 
If you don't like the question then don't answer it--that's called being an adult. I don't think there should be a law restricting the doctor's questions either. I think the NRA is plain wrong on this one.
 
IF YOU HAVE GUNS AT HOME:
Consider the risk.
“It’s better not to have them, because if you have them you’re more likely to use them, and terrible things happen when people use guns,’’ she said.

best part of the entire article...
 
There shouldn't be a law about this, as even though I do agree that it's not something my doctor needs to know, once we bar docs from asking about this one thing, what's next? We all know that .gov never stops grabbing power, and we can't ever ask them to. Even when it's about something like this.

Don't answer your doctor, lie to him, threaten to cut his balls off and feed them to him if he ever asks again, but please......do NOT ask for more restrictions on anyone from .gov
 
Another_David said:
If you don't like the question then don't answer it--that's called being an adult. I don't think there should be a law restricting the doctor's questions either. I think the NRA is plain wrong on this one.
Click to expand...
And since the drs are probably not certified to teach firearms safety, who's to say that any advice from them would be any good? Jack.
 
I keep hearing about this, but have never been asked, at least in this way.

Last time I went to the doctor for a physical, he told me to take my shirt off. When he saw my Sig he said, "It seems you have an abnormal growth here" and tapped the butt with his pen. I lol'd.
 
one-eyed Jack said:
And since the drs are probably not certified to teach firearms safety, who's to say that any advice from them would be any good? Jack.
Click to expand...

I agree that the public should have an interest in not having doctors spout information on subjects they likely know nothing about.

I don't think legislating that doctors can't say anything about gun safety was the right course of action. Some of these pediatrics/doctors associations have obvious interests in banning guns, that is kind of a separate issue I think though.

I think the doctors have the right to make suggestions on how to prevent accidents such as don't leave chemicals laying around, buckle up, etc.... and gun safety could certainly fall within that. Gun accidents DO happen (albeit not as often as some of these doctors seem to believe), and some people ARE morons who probably don't know how to safely handle a gun...

I think the better course of action [from the NRA] for this issue would have been to offer to provide/sell information packets + pamphlets to doctors offices and hospitals on safe gun handling and storage as well as eddie eagle type stuff. Doctors offices are already filled with tons of pamphlets & fliers, so I think this is not unreasonable. Obviously such pamphlets would not include such crap as "the safest thing to do is not have any guns at all at home"

This seems like a win-win to me, the doctors get to talk about gun safety, and we get to ensure they are citing accurate information.

Then the conversation would be:
<Doctor> "Do you have any guns at home"
<You> "Yes"
<Doctor> "Here take one of these pamphlets on gun safety"

Maybe GOAL could try to preempt this issue by offering gun safety pamphlets to doctors?

ETA: I think legislation preventing information about owning guns from being put in to medical records would be acceptable, but not preventing what doctors can/can't ask.
 
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I get my blood tested for lead when I get my physical since I shoot a lot indoors using lead. My eye doctor went over some concerns I had about my glasses in regards to Bullseye so both my doctors are pretty aware of my guns.
 
Between 2003 and 2007, the most recent years for which data are available, 152,519 people were killed by firearms, including more than 15,000 children and teenagers, according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention database that collects information from death certificates.
Click to expand...

This crap bugs me. How many of these gun-related deaths were due to gang violence? These jackwagons really need to remove the gang deaths from their info...we don't care if the gangs kill each other...we can only hope they do!

In the same period, 138 Massachusetts children and teenagers were killed by firearms, the bulk of which were homicides.
Click to expand...
Random guess here.......Lowell, Lynn, Brockton, Methuen, Lawrence...or other such gang-infested towns?
[banghead]
 
It seems to me the problem isn't if they ask about guns, but if they record it.

Can you imagine if you looked at your medical records and it said, "keeps bleach and ammonia at home" or "leaves second floor windows open" or "has an extensive pornography collection" or "only cleans the house once every two months"?

If we lived in a political climate where nobody cared about guns, where there wasn't a huge movement to disarm everyone, then someone asking wouldn't be a big deal. It would be like asking, "So, do you play tennis? Make sure to keep your toenails short so they don't get jammed."

But it's not. Every gun owner should be wary of people who keep permanent records asking about guns, that information being recorded has never been good for us. Asking about them can easily lead to distrust of the doctor. You don't want to be in a position where you feel like you have to lie to your doctor.

Perhaps the AMA's advice should be, "Don't ask about guns, it can lead to a poor relationship with your parents. Rather, get some training on the save storage of guns and give out that advice to everyone."
 
This is almost the same argument as answering the police officers' questions. Nothing good will ever come of answering.
The AMA and the CDC are both highly politicized agenda driven organizations. Unless you are seeing the doctor specifically for something related to shooting, (like the lead example) there seems to be little to no reason to give out this kind of information.

The days of the old country Dr. are long gone who remembers you and your whole family's history without any notes. Any data collected is being entered into a computer. Most doctors that use dictation for notes are sending this voice file to a 3rd party company to transcribe this data (most of these are in India) and data transcribed will also be archived at that location, just in case. This data is shared with other physicians as well as insurance companies. And if Obamacare goes into effect, the Gov will have access as well.
 
Do they ask if you have an automobile in the family? The chances of a kid being injured by a car or in a car accident I`m sure are more likely than being injured or killed by a firearm in the house.
 
milktree said:
It seems to me the problem isn't if they ask about guns, but if they record it.

Can you imagine if you looked at your medical records and it said, "keeps bleach and ammonia at home" or "leaves second floor windows open" or "has an extensive pornography collection" or "only cleans the house once every two months"?

If we lived in a political climate where nobody cared about guns, where there wasn't a huge movement to disarm everyone, then someone asking wouldn't be a big deal. It would be like asking, "So, do you play tennis? Make sure to keep your toenails short so they don't get jammed."

But it's not. Every gun owner should be wary of people who keep permanent records asking about guns, that information being recorded has never been good for us. Asking about them can easily lead to distrust of the doctor. You don't want to be in a position where you feel like you have to lie to your doctor.

Perhaps the AMA's advice should be, "Don't ask about guns, it can lead to a poor relationship with your parents. Rather, get some training on the save storage of guns and give out that advice to everyone."
Click to expand...


Exactly, the problem is about recording the information.
I seem to recall in the cases arising from Florida that people were saying this information was being put in to the records.
 
Pilgrim said:
My Dr always asks if It wear my seat belts when I see her at my annual physical.

I told her it's not relevant to why I'm there.
Click to expand...

Best post in thread. Succinct and polite. Should the question be posed a second time I'd tell the Doc (less politely) its none of his beesewax as to what I have in my home.

Call me old fashioned but perhaps maybe doctors shoud stick to giving medical advice. [thinking]

I don't want any pamphlets on firearms safety or any other subject not related directly to my visit. If they have to be muzzled by law, then so be it. This IS an invasion of privacy and we need to protect what little we have left.
 
MrTwigg said:
Best post in thread. Succinct and polite. Should the question be posed a second time I'd tell the Doc (less politely) its none of his beesewax as to what I have in my home.

Call me old fashioned but perhaps maybe doctors shoud stick to giving medical advice. [thinking]

I don't want any pamphlets on firearms safety or any other subject not related directly to my visit. If they have to be muzzled by law, then so be it. This IS an invasion of privacy and we need to protect what little we have left.
Click to expand...

I don't really see how them just asking you is an invasion of privacy. If you don't like your doctor and the questions they ask you can just find a different one (yeah, I know, easier said than done in some instances). However, I think entering such information in to a permanent medical record could be an invasion of privacy.

Part of the problem was also that they didn't just ask, they harassed and pestered people and their children in the cases cited in Florida. These doctors may have been so persistent because they had a box to fill in on a permanent record, so its possible simply preventing the information from going in to a permanent record would have solved the problem.
 
I think they might be scared.......many are incompetent. I dated one!(female)[wink] I'd rather be treated by a lawyer [wink]
 
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I had my first physical two months ago. I figured it was time cause I am 42.
My Doc is a hot shit. Plays Hockey, has a couple of kids the same age as mine. He was reading the questionnaire to me as i was getting undressed when he asked if I owned any firearms. I paused, looked him dead in the eye and said "Nope". Then I removed my shoulder holster with two extra magazines, hung it over the back of a chair, and stepped on the scale.

A bit later we talked and he expressed his interest in getting his LTC and teaching his boys to shoot. The only advice he offered was to remind me it is a good idea to wash your hands thoroughly after a range trip.
 
Ask them what particular professional training and expertise they have that qualifies them for dispense advice regarding firearm safety. Then suggest that they not engage in this sort of boundary violation in the future, since it could easily get them sued for medical malpractice.

Ken
 

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