Do You Have Guns In Your House?

Who Wants to Know?

from JoeUser Forums
Another piece of disturbing news.

I was at work yesterday when my boss, who is also my politcal advisor since he knows so much about it and keeps me informed on the latest, told me something that really bugged me.

He and his wife took their 13 year old daughter to the doctor's for a regular checkup for sports. The doctor asked them to leave the room. They said they would prefer not to but the doctor insisted. So they did. They trust this doctor completely and left the room. While gone, the doctor had a list of questions evidently she was obligated to ask this young girl without her parents being there.

While the parents didn't quiz their daughter about the questions, it did come up that one of the questions asked was... is there any guns in their house? My boss is a hunter. So too is another one of the guys in my office. They both have guns. The other guy was incensed his friend's daughter was asked this. He said..."I don't like this. Are they now using doctor's for info?" He was visibly upset about this. Aren't guns registered? Is this just a way to find out who has unregistered guns by having their kids tell on their parents?

So the question I asked was why is it a doctor's business to ask this? What does this have to do with having a physical? Is this a new thing now? I'm guessing somehow this is getting reported. But to whom?

My boss seemed to think it had to do with health and welfare of the child. I think it goes much deeper.

There are many that are just waiting for all the guns to be taken away from the common joe. I know there are some now that are stocking the guns and ammo thinking when Hillary gets in it's going to be much harder to get their hands on this.

I know one thing, I would have walked out of that doctor's office with my daughter in hand and would have found another way for her to have a simple sports physical than having to give up personal info that doesn't even belong in this setting.
politics
34,307 views 113 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
“General Douglas MacArthur, a leader I deeply respected, is said to have written that no man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation and vigorous in its defense. Well, it’s all up to us now. We are the
heirs of MacArthur, Pershing, Jefferson, and Washington—and of those Americans who put their lives on the line from Bunker Hill to Belleau Wood, from Normandy to Khe Sanh. We will be vigilant in the preservation of freedom and vigorous in its defense because we will not let down those who came before us or those who will follow.”
-- President Ronald Reagan
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Wow, this is a shock to me. I didn't think I would ever here of a doctor asking that question. I don't see how it is any of their business.

My father is a cop. So there were always guns in the house. He bought me my first when I was about 10 and I now have a pretty large surplus (for the zombie invasion that is) and I can find no good reason why a doctor would want to know this.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Douglas MacArthur


Sucked! I can't imagine why Reagan would respect him so much after the Korean debacle. Geez.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
(for the zombie invasion that is)


haha.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I imagine its asked for the same reason doctors ask if anyone in the home smokes: for safety recommendations.

Caracarn: Blades don't need reloading.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
The only time I can think of this being a legitimate question from a doctor would be if the doctor were concerned about depression in the patient. Otherwise it looks to me like the doctor is over stepping his bounds, possibly at the behest of child protective services, which seems like a violation of doctor/patient confidentiality and medical ethics.
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
My kid's Drs in several diff states usually ask me a list of questions at every physical. Sometimes they are written down, sometimes they are verbal. They almost always include, Is there a gun in the house? (I say yes, they say, are they locked up? I say yes. They say, good.) Do your kids wear safety belts? Does anyone in the home smoke?

They've always asked me, not my kids. Maybe the reason he asked the parents to leave was so he could ask her if she was smoking, or ask her about her periods. Some teens will lie if there is a parent present. Thirteen seems a little old to have mommy and daddy with you while getting a physical (as long as clothes are on).

I wouldn't read too much into it. I don't know who "they" are anyway. And if there were any "They" pressuring Drs to break confidentiality, I think we'd be hearing about it...because lots of them would refuse and then go to the media.

Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
Well this was just a sport's physical which usually is pretty much the basics.

I'd say it's none of their business. Check her heart, check her BP, check her eyes and ears, check her limbs....but seatbelts and guns? I don't see how they would bear any significance to her playing basketball. At least I can't think of any. My kids had sports physicals for years since they were avid sports participants and they were never asked these types of questions.

This kind of reminded me a bit of the Nazi Regime where kids were telling on their parents. Some of this is still going on in communist countries even today.

I was wondering if there was a way somebody is somehow checking for illegal guns in the home and this was a way of finding out via the kids. If you check on my boss you'd find all his guns registered but if you check on somebody else maybe they wouldn't be. I dunno, just thinking that.

Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Closing the 'b' tag since no one else will...

I remember reading about this a few years back. It's supposedly been hijacked as a "health and wellbeing" matter in that a child in a house with guns is whatever percent more likely to fall victim to accidental gunshot wounds. They validate it by saying that instructing a kid about precautions about gun deaths is no different than instructing a kid about STDs or anything else life threatening.

Note, though, that owning a lion makes you far more likely to be eaten by a lion, but no doctor so far has asked me or my child if we own one...

Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
My question to the doc would be "how about if I have a loaded one on me right now?" Proud owner of a concealed carry permit.

I would also ask what business is it of "yours", if I have guns in my house or not? How does that question relate to a sports physical?
Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top
If insurance was paying I could see why they would want to know. If there was a gun in the house you bet they would want to know.
Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

Note, though, that owning a lion makes you far more likely to be eaten by a lion, but no doctor so far has asked me or my child if we own one...

Do you own a lion?

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top
Nope, I don't have pool either. I figure if I do go shopping for lions or pools, it has to be one or the other. There's less danger of my lion drowning if I don't have a pool. But... then there'd be less chance of me being eaten by a lion if there is a chance my lion will first drown in my pool.

I'm sure if I worked at this long enough I could work out how owning guns, pools, and lions makes my home safer, and probably fit in open flames and chain smoking too. You can make any point you want if you try hard enough. In the end, your odds are worse every day you live. Living, evidently, is bad for you.

So, given the odds of malpractice, car accidents on the way, etc., perhaps even going to the doctor is much worse for you than owning a gun. I wonder how the numbers of malpractice vs. accidental shooting would work out...

Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
If your lion is the type of lion that will eat you, it would probably be safer to have a gun in the house.
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top
Lions are lions, guns are guns, pools are pools, doctors are doctors. Life is one big, wacky crap shoot.
Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
No, I dont have a gun, or a lion. But as the first is a right, I dont care. The second is not, so I have to ask them why?

In either case, it is THEIR choice. That is why we are not Venezuela.
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top
Firearm Injury Prevention Counseling at the Journal of Pediatrics.

Also... A bill to stop physicians from asking.

"The national pediatric group puts out a guide on safety counseling for pediatricians under its injury prevention program.

The state-endorsed guidelines are used by not just doctors and nurses but by others whose jobs involve children.

Medical professionals are encouraged to use the routine safety survey to counsel parents about everything from car safety seats and child-proofing a house and backyard pool to bicycle helmets and fire safety once the child reaches the appropriate age.

Pediatricians use the checklist to curtail preventable injuries, such as poisoning by household cleaning products, not to be intrusive, say Virginia physicians.

"The bill hits at the heart and core of prevention and protecting our children," said Dr. Nancy Welch, Chesapeake Health Department director. "I am just amazed that it has gone this far and seems to be flying under the radar."


Might as well add lions to the list, wouldn't take another 10 seconds. Maybe large predatory birds, too.

Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
! I can't imagine why Reagan would respect him so much after the Korean debacle. Geez.


That was Truman's debacle.
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top
That was Truman's debacle.


Truman may have got us in, But MacArthur frakked it up. He just wanted the huge, glorious Normandy-style battle under his belt, without realizing that World War II is the aberration in American military involvement - we hadn't fought a war anything like that before, and haven't had one since. There's a reason that Ike sacked him the second he was in office.
Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
One of the reasons it doesn't freak me out is because I am not sure what an "illegal" gun is...do you mean an unregistered firearm?

That would be dumb for Drs to ask if its legal (registered) because registration is not required in every state. (Mississippi for one...WWW Link)

I've never felt offended at the question. They always ask if we have dogs too. Forgot that one. Are they up to date on shots...stuff like that.

Maybe they have to cover it for insurance purposes? I dunno. Maybe it doesn't offend me because I answer the "right" way.
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top
'Register your guns and you won't have to worry about it. Oh wait, you're talking about a 'friend.' Or a 'friend's sister.' Anyone but yourself, right KFC? You'd never own an illegal gun, right?"


Depends on where you live. Guns don't have to be registered in most places. If you move to a new area and go to the police department and tell them you want to register the ownership of your guns they'll look at you like you're a nut. You mostly see that in crime-ridden urban cesspools where it doesn't help anyway.

In fact, it makes it worse. Such places draw illegal gun dealers, much in the same way that bootlegging and drug crime always seem to be worse in "dry" areas. If you have a legal gun store with fewer hitches for purchase, it's actually HARDER to get a weapon to use for crime.

Why? Because in places where it is almost impossible to get a legal weapon, illegal ones are a hot commodity, and people sell them on street corners. Dealers in illegal weapons have a hard time making a living in areas where it isn't so hard to buy guns legally.

Forcing people to jump through hoops to buy guns, and making it inconvenient to own them just makes the dealers who don't do those things popular. Then you have a community full of "cold", cheap weapons.
Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top
It's been my observation that only the criminals have unregistered firearms or prohibited weapons (i.e. a shotgun with a barrel length under 18 inches) so for honest folk it's a non-issue. So relax everybody!
Reply #23 from JoeUser Forums Top
I actually know of MANY law abiding citizens who don't register their firearms, Shovel. They try to live in areas where registraation is not required.

I don't think that asking a child if there are guns in the home should be the responsibility of medical care professionals, and here's why: Because people NEED medical care. I know for a fact that fear of the kinds of intrusions that doctors make into their personal lives has kept many parents from seeking adequate medical care. Because a doctor who disapproves of your lifestyle can very quickly find a way to hurt you and your family.

Doctors are NOT trained law enforcement officials, and should NOT be required to act as such.
Reply #24 from JoeUser Forums Top
I actually have no guns at my house...my mom doesn't like them, so no guns. I do have a katana, though...and when the zombies come it's probably sharp enough to split their skulls...so I think I'm good to go.

I had a physical a few years back...no questions about guns or anything...just general health questions.

~Zoo
Reply #25 from JoeUser Forums Top
I had a physical a few years back...no questions about guns or anything...just general health questions.


My Doc never wants to talk about guns either. And I hate it when he slips and snaps one of those latex gloves on and tells me to roll over. Heh, I'd whole lot rather discuss my .380 ya know?