Besides saying MYOB, STFU, and a few other things, I thought of something that I don't have the answer to, so I'm bringing it forward to see what reaction I get. This key issue here is HIPAA, which is the multi-headed hydra that keeps sensitive healthcare information private, and this regulation comes with a good set of teeth and some pretty stiff penalties. In short, if you're a healthcare provider of any sort, releasing personal health data can lose you your license and/or get you an orange set of scrubs.
So, the big legal question to be asked is: If a doctor asks you about guns in your household during an office visit, are you covered by HIPAA for any answer you may give, and is the doctor breaking the law if he repeats that information to Sherriff Buford T. Justice at the local cop shop, or anybody else, for that matter?? I don't even begin to have the vaguest clue as to what the answer is, but I get the feeling that very few other people may know the answer for sure. The one thing I do know is that it takes a pretty extreme case of personal endangerment of some sort (drug addiction, violent mental illness, child or spousal abuse, etc.) before the doctor is allowed/obligated to go to the police.
Please chime in if you have relevant information in this area! If nothing else, if you are in the doctor's office and the doctor tries to find out how many guns you have, you can ask him if the information you give in HIS/HER office is covered by HIPAA, and if so who does he intend to share this PERSONAL information with?? I'm guessing you will get a huge chunk of tension filled silence as the doctor stars to ponder how tattling on you to the police could lose him his license.
Let the free-for-all begin!!