OT: Asked if I had a gun in my home during physical.

NotMuffy wrote:Well "IMHO", I find it a little ironic that when one first meets either a physician or a "gun nut" in a social setting, they both have this overwhelming need to work that little tidbit of information into the first 2 minutes of conversation somehow.

So I would imagine gun-toting physicians would be stopping strangers in the street in their desire to enlighten passers-by with their accomplishments.

John M. Browning wrote:

xenablue wrote:I too, was asked that question (about whether I owned a gun). As I am a legal alien in the U.S. (not a citizen) and therefore not allowed to own a gun, to not answer or answer 'yes' could have me on the first flight back to Australia if 'big brother' was given my response.

I found the question unsettling, but responded (honestly - I hate guns) anyway in my own best interests.

Cheers,
xena

Actually, as a legal alien (green card) you CAN own a gun, and in most applicable states obtain a Carry Permit.

I never leave home without it myself...

Actually if you have a green card... you're considered a legal permanent resident (USCIS term).

You know if you are going to play with lethal toys that kill several thousand people a year (including kids) you have to expect questions like that. Just like you can get stopped at anytime while driving several tons of metal at 60mph to verify that you have a valid license and are not inebriated. What the fuck is the difference!?!

The rest of the civilized world can handle this, suck it up. The medical people are probably getting bloody tired of digging bullets out of innocent kids.

I'm a little late to this "party" but I HAVE been asked that question so much in recent years, probably because of becoming a foster parent. But yeah, my doctor has asked me that (plus a whole lot more that probably would upset a lot of people).

Doesn't bother or upset me in the slightest bit. Unfortunately, too many people have that "it can never happen to me" mindset and don't take the simplest of precautions to protect their families.

We don't have "a" gun. My husband is a serious hunter so we have more than one. But all of them (and the ammunition) is locked in a serious gun safe, not one of those cheap cabinets that anybody can get into. The safe, empty, weighs close to 1000 pounds and even with the combination, it's a PITA to get in to.

So, if a medical professional wants to ask me, then question what we do to secure them, I have no problem answering them.

BlackSpinner wrote:You know if you are going to play with lethal toys that kill several thousand people a year (including kids) you have to expect questions like that. Just like you can get stopped at anytime while driving several tons of metal at 60mph to verify that you have a valid license and are not inebriated. What the {removed} is the difference!?!

The rest of the civilized world can handle this, suck it up. The medical people are probably getting bloody tired of digging bullets out of innocent kids.

The difference is relevance -- the DL question is being asked in a relevant setting and for relevant reasons. The gun questions is totally and completely irrelevant in the setting its being asked and for the reasons being asked.

Is the doctor going to change the methods used to treat or the treatment prescribed based upon the answer? If they are then it definitely time for a new doctor!! If it has no impact on treatment or the methods of treatment then the question is totally and completely irrelevant and has no business being asked.

Tip10 wrote:

BlackSpinner wrote:You know if you are going to play with lethal toys that kill several thousand people a year (including kids) you have to expect questions like that. Just like you can get stopped at anytime while driving several tons of metal at 60mph to verify that you have a valid license and are not inebriated. What the {removed} is the difference!?!

The rest of the civilized world can handle this, suck it up. The medical people are probably getting bloody tired of digging bullets out of innocent kids.

The difference is relevance -- the DL question is being asked in a relevant setting and for relevant reasons. The gun questions is totally and completely irrelevant in the setting its being asked and for the reasons being asked.

Is the doctor going to change the methods used to treat or the treatment prescribed based upon the answer? If they are then it definitely time for a new doctor!! If it has no impact on treatment or the methods of treatment then the question is totally and completely irrelevant and has no business being asked.

Excellent post, Tip10!

So if I understand correctly, I believe that the important lesson everyone has learned in this thread is that if you do have guns in the home, it would be best to put them out back in the hidden underground bunker/cellar under lock and key (with the rest of the "provisions") on the morning before you drive the pickup down into town over to the doc's place. (The ones in the gun rack don't count.) That way if Doc asks what's "in the home," you can answer honestly and truthfully that day. (Unless, of course, you actually live in the bunker.)

Or you could simply answer: "I don't believe in handguns in the home--there's no need for that, since no one has ever yet made it through the minefield to get past the grenade launcher."

Those are not my ideas, though; they're from a handout printed at some undisclosed location in Idaho.



For the record, if it was a trick question from the government, the question would not be, "Is there a gun in the home?" The question would be, "Where in the home do you keep the guns." That is law-enforcement 101.

BlackSpinner wrote:You know if you are going to play with lethal toys that kill several thousand people a year (including kids) you have to expect questions like that. Just like you can get stopped at anytime while driving several tons of metal at 60mph to verify that you have a valid license and are not inebriated. What the fuck is the difference!?!

The rest of the civilized world can handle this, suck it up. The medical people are probably getting bloody tired of digging bullets out of innocent kids.

My gun has killed fewer people than Teddy Kennedy's Oldsmobile.

 

Just sayin...

 

 

 

My actual opinion is that it is a question of culture and context, all joking aside.

If I were walking down the street in the town near where I grew up in Kentucky and saw a man in full camo with a weapon on his hip and a rifle in his hands walking past the courthouse on Main Street, I wouldn't even glance twice--I would assume he was picking up some pop and a can or two of Vienna Sausages (pronounce vy-eee-nee there) on his way out squirrel hunting and wouldn't blink an eye.

However, if I saw the same guy walking at the corner of Broadway and 42nd Street here in NYC, I would assume that his fighting uptown traffic to make it this far into the city meant he wasn't out for soda and a snack, and I would dive behind the nearest yellow cab in a panic and dial 911. (I'm a coward that way.)

So to me, such questions, without context of location and circumstance, on an international forum, sort of lose their meaning. I can't imagine going 4-wheeling in North Alaska in bear country without something strapped across somewhere, for example, and where would it be stored?

But I have enjoyed the thread and was personally unaware that medical people were asking such questions. I learned something.

Thanks, Starlette.

"I don't believe in handguns in the home--there's no need for that, since no one has ever yet made it through the minefield to get past the grenade launcher."

Bwaaaaahahahaa - this is good stuff, this is the kind of answer I wish I could pop off everytime a question catches me off guard, well done.

Mac

Q: Do you have a gun in your home?
A: I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.

That outta get 'em thinking!

pitrow wrote: . . . A: I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that I may incriminate myself.

That outta get 'em thinking!

or, if Letterman were to make a top-ten list of possible answers . . .

A: "That depends. Does my parole officer need the court's permission to see my medical records?"

A: "No, not since that time that I . . . oh, never mind."

A: "I'm not sure; I seem to keep losing things, these days."

A: "No, I traded it in for a working light-sabre after my Jedi training."

A: "I think my kid took it to school for show-and-tell today."

A: "Not yet. I've been waiting for Wal-Mart to put the one I want on sale."

A: "Yep. Two for my Wii. Nail gun. Solder gun. Caulk gun. Should I go on?"

A: "The voices in my head won't let me have one."

A: "Do you mean store-bought or homemade?"

A: "Yes, but I only use it to light cigars."

I would probably get angry. Enough to make who ever asked uncomfortable. Not only is it not their business I feel that it is wrong somehow to be asked. No cute humor. No polite "none of your business". No jokes. I would be insulted and showing polite anger, make sure the person who asked uncomfortable. I'm not sure why I consider it insulting but I do. Maybe disrespectful is the correct work.

My better, smarter half thinks it is a domestic violence thing: ask a series of questions to see if there is common potential for domestic violence. That I would never be asked but my wife and kids would be asked if there are guns, do they feel safe, etc.

Sometimes saying something absolutely ridiculous is a reasonable way to be evasive if someone is uncomfortable answering a question straight out. It can help if the ridiculous statement is slightly humorous.

But I agree that it IS a very serious matter. From a medical point of view, "access to lethal means" can be considered a medical risk factor, in some circumstances, so there are times when the question might be particularly appropriate, especially as a reminder to supporting family members:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/means-matte ... ounseling/

Doctors themselves need to be willing to have discussions on the matter with other doctors, since docs have access to potentially deadly drugs, which statistically may put them into a higher-risk category themselves. Or not. Depends on the study, I guess. And they have to answer some pretty intrusive questions themselves, too:

http://www.currentpsychiatry.com/pdf/10 ... ticle1.pdf

Life-and-death matters can be difficult to grapple with. Sometimes humor helps. Sometimes it doesn't. May depend on our personal life experiences.

Given the supposed statistical connection between OSA and "depression," I personally consider this thread ON topic. Seems to happen with a lot of the OT threads.

I think the gun question is relevant if a doctor is going to prescribe an antidepressant for which homicidal mania is a known (though rare) side effect. But then, so is the question of why such drugs are widely prescribed without first exploring the safer alternatives.