Northern Gal wrote:I'm sure you're all going to blast me for this, however, as a parent, I see absolutely nothing wrong with a pediatrician asking if there are guns in the house, and whether they are kept secure from the kids, any more than I would take issue with the pediatrician reminding me that my child should always wear a helmet when riding his bike. Kids rely on the adults in their lives to make sure they are safe, and it is a pediatrician's responsibility to look out for the total care and safety of each child that is his/her patient. In the ideal world, we wouldn't have to deal with parents who are complete idiots and should never have reproduced; but in the real world, that isn't the case, and for some of these kids, the pediatrician is the only responsible adult these children see until they start school.
The question regarding guns and the subsequent reminder that they must be kept secure is not a judgement call by the physician, nor is it an opening to lecturing you about whether or not you should have guns in the house; if a physician took it to that level, there would be reason to bitch, and believe me I would! However, some of the responses I've seen on here take offense because the physician isn't a certified gun instructor; that isn't the point here. They are only asking questions to determine that you are responsible and are making sure that your child is living in a safe environment. Again, I see no problem with that.
Now, if MY physician were to ask me about whether or not I own a gun, that's a different story. I'm the only one responsible for my own safety, and if I'm stupid enough to handle my gun in an unsafe manner - one that results in me being hurt or killed - well, that's nature's way of weeding out the stupid. That's none of my physician's business before the fact!
It is not that physicians are being discouraged from giving out preventative warnings. The point here is that these physicians are gathering information and, it is believed, storing that information for future use. What possible reason would a physician have for retaining that specific information? What is the end use of such information?
I suspect, although this may be a bit cloudy, that residents in a household would be far more likely to be injured or killed in a fall. Do physicians gather information on the the number of stairs in a house, the height of the risers, etc? The number, size, and shape of bathtubs? Do they collect information on how many pointy things you might have around the house that have the potential to cause a puncture wound? The answer to those is "NO"! If physicians are not prepared to scour residences for potential infectious agents (molds, vermin infestations, etc) they have no business asking what firearms a person might possess.
Why then would they collect information on firearms? It should suffice to hand out pamphlets that advise to keep the end of firearms from which the bullets exit pointed in a safe direction. They might also sponsor firearms training, but they do not. Physicians as a group, via the AMA, have demonstrated a dislike for firearms and could very well be considered "anti's". They do not need information on the subject of firearms in the home to do their job effectively and efficiently.
For the issue that some children are exposed to the only responsible person in their life when they see a physician, I would venture to say that a more liberal prescribing of birth control medications, and a far greater application of vasectomies, would go a long way to fixing that. Still, this has no bearing on firearms at all.
