So just had a new pediatrician ask me the "have any guns in the house?"

 

I said "we'll that's a privacy issue isn't it?" (As my wife gave me the stare..)

 

The doctor then said "I'm asking only to just reiterate the safety issue that as of now your guns and ammo should be locked up securely as well as any chemicals you have in the house.. I would say the same thing if you were a carpenter and has tools around. Your little one will be crawling before you know it. I have many families that are hunters I just need to remind them"

 

She didn't take notes about my answers nor did she mention anything about it being a mandatory question. So I felt this question this time was really a safety issue and not a poll. But if I get to know this doctor better I think I would suggest to her "perhaps you should just say "if you are a gun owner I just want to remind you it's never to early to secure your stuff.....instead of saying "do you own any guns?...."

 

So as soon as we leave the office I say to my wife "can you believe the first question was do you have any guns?" And she said "well duh, any answer other than "no" she is gonna construe as a yes..."

The correct answer is "Ew, no!  I hate guns!"

I dont have any guns. Why do you ask?

Im sorry what did you say about my wifes buns???

The demon inside me wants to say "none of your fukcen business" but as they say discretion is the better part of valor. 

 

"We don't have any guns in the house."

"Nope, I don't have any guns, but I have a great collection of razor sharp Japanese swords..."

I would say "none of your business" or answer the way the OP did. I think just saying no lets them off the hook too easy, I'd prefer to not say yes or no in a way that lets them know I don't appreciate being asked.

Counter by asking if they have any guns, if they say yes take them shooting.

"To address your safety question, No, we don't keep a physician in the house.  Were we to acquire one, we'd be sure and keep it locked securely in a safe where it could do no harm."

 

http://freedomoutpost.com/2012/12/medical-malpractice-deaths-nine-times-higher-than-gun-homicides-lets-end-the-ama/

sounds like you need a new doc.

my kid's was a little more tactful (based on the description you gave) and I could clearly see she was reading off the list from the monitor screen and checking boxes. after a short conversation she removed the check mark and left that field blank.

 

reminds me... need to send her an invite to go shooting.

None of their damned business, I would be out the door looking for a new pediatrician. However I do have a staple gun, heat gun, caulking gun and a soldering gun. I guess they can be dangerous and should be locked up.

I'm sure the new surgeon general will try to codify this line of questioning in regulations in the near future.

Me or the wife have never been asked this, however we are going to a new doc today so lets see if they inquire about it.

Over the past month I have been to quite a few DRs. many of them have asked me this same question. I reply yes, next they ask if they are all securely locked up and I reply not when I am home because if I need one and its in my safe how I wont be able to get to it in time. I also inform them that I don't have any kids so I don't have to keep them locked up. Never once has it ben a problem. I don't see what the point of saying no is, the state knows I have guns already so its not like its a secret.

As some of you may be aware, my wife is a pediatrician. In fact, she's the only pediatrician in two counties and she's pretty far from anti-gun. She asks the firearm question of each new family when establishing care for the sole purpose of reinforcing safety. She also tells people to lock up chemicals in the garage or under the sink and basic childproofing. Some people are awfully sensitive to that question and go so far as to think a database of who owns guns and who doesn't is generated using that question.

"In the house"? 

Why no, we keep all our weapons in the bunker - why?

I would respond: "How often do you and your husband have sex, and do you like it on top?"  When she replies, "that is none of your business" I would reply: "EXACTLY"!

I would respond: "How often do you and your husband have sex, and do you like it on top?"  When she replies, "that is none of your business" I would reply: "EXACTLY"!

BINGO... 

Yep, expect more intrusion now that the senate has confirmed that P.O.S. Anti-gun douche as surgeon general.

 

Firearms are a public health hazard according to him.

The problem is not with the question or the safety intent of it. The fact that Govt agencies (PD, NJSP etc) know everything is not a problem either.

 

The problem is with the recording of the information (checkboxes, notes) everywhere including in Pediatrician office and type of interpretation it is subjected to. In a society where people guilty are until proven innocent, having the information (and capability to gather) everywhere is BAD BUSINESS.

 

Private organizations are (often) not subject to same level of scrutiny when it comes certain rights. Imagine insurance companies gathering this information and adjusting premium. Or social services quoting the answers in an unrelated family dispute ?

She didn't take any notes or check any boxes. That was the whole reason I started this thread. It was exactly the way MidwestPx said it.

 

As far as finding a new doctor my child's care using a top notch doctor is ten millions times more important than a gun poll.

 

(Flame me if you want for that statement) but I'm comfortable with the way she framed the question.

 

I think it's ludicrous if the weeks I spent asking for references for a pediatrician and the reviews I read, and the two interviews I had with him about his approach to infant care...I wasn't thinking to myself "I wonder if he will ask me the gun question?"

When it comes to family or your kids health, your choice trumps everything else. You dont owe anyone any explanation for choosing specific doc and staying with that doc :-) .

 

But interesting that a doc would ask the question without someone training the doc to ask the question.

"In the house"? 

Why no, we keep all our weapons in the bunker - why?

 

Best.answer.ever, Jack!!    Other than suggesting anatomical impossibilities 

I would have no problem with them covering the topic without them asking a direct question. As in " keep your chemicals locked up , IF you own firearms keep them locked safely away from the children , if you have a pool use a pool alarm" 

I would not be cool with being asked directly.

My pediatrician is from Poland. The first day I wore a Gun For Hire shirt to the office she thought it was a positive thing , thought it was great that as a woman I had the confidence to exercise that right.

Often other Americans are the least likely to "get " the freedom aspect of owning guns. A lot have just grown over the generations to take Freedom for granted.  I find foreigners , especially those that have lived under oppressive conditions , to be more likely to accept firearms as a right.

I actually prefer foreign doctors in general. For a lot of reasons.

This isn't a new discussion guys.  

 

Doctors have been asking that question for years...long before this new Surgeon General.

 

Our ped doesn't ask it, but some do.  Apparently it's on the list of questions much like whether or not your kid wears a helmet while riding his bike.

This isn't a new discussion guys.  

 

Doctors have been asking that question for years...long before this new Surgeon General.

 

Our ped doesn't ask it, but some do.  Apparently it's on the list of questions much like whether or not your kid wears a helmet while riding his bike.

yeah just got back from a new doc and they asked about a bike helmet, seat belts then guns and if so were they locked up.

it was a form we needed to fill out.. 

Haven't had a Pediatrician in years.  When we did employ one, we were never asked.  Maybe the NRA Life Member hat I wore into the Dr.'s Office or the month-old copies of American Riflemen magazine left in the waiting room post-visit had something to do with THAT, lol!  She was a nice Indian-born Doc who has a Plastic Surgeon for a husband.  And she knew her shit!

 

Fast-forward to today and our Internist is an Eagle Scout, Latino, who LOVES to fish with his family, so I bring him ring neck pheasant feathers from cockbirds I've knocked outta the sky with my black powder 10 ga.  He makes home-made fishing lures outta them...... 

 

If I live long enough to see grandchildren, and get the opportunity to take them for a check-up, I will be wearing my NRA blaze orange CRSO decal on my jacket as I walk in!  THAT YOU CAN PUT IN THE BANK, lol!

 

Dave

My doctor wouldn't ask such a question.

 

But the medical assistant asks, "were you wearing boots and a gun last time you were on the scale? We usually just subtract 10 pounds but it still looks like you gained a few."

My doctor wouldn't ask such a question.

 

But the medical assistant asks, "were you wearing boots and a gun last time you were on the scale? We usually just subtract 10 pounds but it still looks like you gained a few."

WAY TO GO FOX!  (Wiping sprayed coffee off of monitor once again!)  I swear I never have to damp wipe this damn screen, lol!

When it comes to family or your kids health, your choice trumps everything else. You dont owe anyone any explanation for choosing specific doc and staying with that doc :-) .

 

But interesting that a doc would ask the question without someone training the doc to ask the question.

One of the things to keep in mind too, is that not every gun owner is as safety-conscious as most of us are......

 

If an HCP's intent behind the  question is just to make parents aware of potential toddler hazards, I'm ok with the question.  I'd expect it to be part of a series of questions assessing whether we live in a home with stairs, whether we've safeguarded sharp instruments, household chemicals, electrical outlets, whether we have a pool, and a few dozen other things I can't think of right now.  In that context, it's one thing; off by itself it's another.....