Pediatrician questions

[StateLine]

LOL, I don't think you're an asshole.

 

[graybeard]

I'm saying that I don't record if you have guns. I'm saying that your medical records are private and not accessible to any government entity by law. (Obamacare will probably change all that. For the bad. We're in agreement there). I'm saying I just remind every family present with a kid for a physical, sports or otherwise, of a large number of things safety related, one of which is LOADED GUNS AND SMALL KIDS ARE A BAD MIX. Seems everyone here thinks that is a bad thing.

Wow. Do you finally get it?

For the record, yes that is a bad mix.

But I don't need to be told and I'm offended that you blindly assume I might. And if I did I sure as heck neither expect nor want to hear it from a doctor.

And I'm sorry doc, it's just none of your business. Period.

 

[Hasselhoss]

LOL, I'd be afraid to start a poll right now here on my status as an asshole or not!

I haven't said anything here to anyone I wouldn't say to their face at a meet and greet or around a campfire over a few beers. A lot of the context of how we are saying something is lost in the written word. I do see where a lot of what I've typed here could be construed as assholish. In person it would come off much differently. I truly hope I've not upset anyone. I greatly enjoy debate and discussions with others of divergent viewpoints.

For the most part I think you just happen to be the messenger. I mine data and I know what can be done with it. I know how it can be manipulated and used for good or bad. I the doctor has Sony handed me a pamphlet with safety tips that happened to include guns I would be appreciative of it. The mandatory questions and recording of the answers changes that warm fuzzy feeling and makes me not trust that doctor fully.

 

[MCG DAWG]

After 13 years as a Deputy Sheriff, trust me when I say I've spent plenty of time around these type of folks. I realize it doesn't make me a medical expert, but I fully understand the severity of the mental health situation in this country. And certainly the underlying mental instability is the root cause, but there is almost certainly a correlation between these meds and violent, irrational, destructive behavior. Here's a link with some stats that support that. http://www.cchrint.org/school-shooters/

That's interesting data to say the least. What's tough to determine is if the meds either made such behavior more likely, less likely, delayed it, or made it come on quicker. It's tough to be able to do any research to determine what would would occur if we didn't treat any of these mental illnesses.

Again I'm not saying the meds may not have contributed, I'm just saying that the data is inconclusive. Did these shootings occur because the people were crazy? Did they occur because they were crazy and took meds that made them crazier? It's tough to say.

All I can say without a doubt is that at some level of "crazy", easy access to firearms is probably not a good idea.

 

[StateLine]

I understand that you have a big heart and care for the children you treat. I do not for one second believe that you are a secret government agent trying to see if we have guns. However, I went to the doctor to make sure my daughter was fit to play sports. I did not go there for car advice, firearms training, pottery or any of a thousand more reasons.

The doctor was not making polite conversation IE... "So, do you like to shoot? Any good? What do you hunt? Blah blah blah". They asked questions that a politically active organization told them to. They said the questions were mandatory and all answers were typed in a computer. Those answers are saved somewhere and accessible.

Lets just say that, 5 years down the road my daughter or any other family member suffers a loss and tells the doctor that they are depressed, angry, hurt or having panic attacks. I do not find it too much of a stretch to believe that as soon as those symptoms were put in the file a notification would pop up alerting the doctor that there are guns in the home.

THIS

 

[StateLine]

All I can say without a doubt is that at some level of "crazy", easy access to firearms is probably not a good idea.

And no reasonable person would disagree with that. The problem is getting 2 or more reasonable persons to agree how to define that level of crazy, how that definition should be applied and who should make the determination. Its a slippery slope. I'm not sure if you've been following the case of Alice Boland, the woman who threatened Bush and recently showed up at a Charleston area school with a legally purchased .22 pistol. She's the poster child for tougher mental health screening on gun purchases. But the flip side to that could be merely someone who underwent treatment at one time or another ending up in some database that flags them for buying a gun. Like I said, its a slippery slope. I don't claim to have the answer. Well except that I know banning my AR15 isn't the answer. lol

 

[MCG DAWG]

Wow. Do you finally get it?

For the record, yes that is a bad mix.

But I don't need to be told and I'm offended that you blindly assume I might. And if I did I sure as heck neither expect nor want to hear it from a doctor.

And I'm sorry doc, it's just none of your business. Period.

Do the gun safety signs outside a gun show piss you off too? Does it make you mad they assume you need to be reminded of it? Does the spiel from the range safety officer every time you go shoot at a range upset you because they blindly assume that you might need to hear it when in fact you do not?

We'll agree to disagree but rest assured that a doctor that doesn't mention all the safety issues I've mentioned is not doing their job completely.

 

[MCG DAWG]

And no reasonable person would disagree with that. The problem is getting 2 or more reasonable persons to agree how to define that level of crazy, how that definition should be applied and who should make the determination. Its a slippery slope. I'm not sure if you've been following the case of Alice Boland, the woman who threatened Bush and recently showed up at a Charleston area school with a legally purchased .22 pistol. She's the poster child for tougher mental health screening on gun purchases. But the flip side to that could be merely someone who underwent treatment at one time or another ending up in some database that flags them for buying a gun. Like I said, its a slippery slope. I don't claim to have the answer. Well except that I know banning my AR15 isn't the answer. lol

100% agree. No easy task trying to figure that out. All it would do is discourage those needing help from seeking it. A very tangled web indeed. No easy answers to a very complex issue. Also agree taking away my AR's does nothing to help!

 

[Hasselhoss]

Do the gun safety signs outside a gun show piss you off too? Does it make you mad they assume you need to be reminded of it? Does the spiel from the range safety officer every time you go shoot at a range upset you because they blindly assume that you might need to hear it when in fact you do not?

We'll agree to disagree but rest assured that a doctor that doesn't mention all the safety issues I've mentioned is not doing their job completely.

No, but neither would a gun safety sign in the exam room.

Do you really not see the difference? The person that you tell your deepest, most personal physical and mental issues to wants to now ask your children if there are guns in their home and enter that in a database. A database that will save that info along with every complaint, prescription and private information you have ever shared. I could tell you where your mom keeps the good china if I had your database.

Obamacare WILL open the door for govt access to any and all of that data if "certain conditions" are met.

 

[captdave77]

There are around 300,000,000 firearms in the US.

If this "problem" is bad enough to justify intrusive non-medical questions by a pediatrician, why do we not have dead babies lining the streets in this country?