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A typical doctor's visit always raises certain questions. This includes your drinking habits, smoking history, illicit drug use, mental health, and even your sexual partner history.
For most people, these questions are routine and don't give them pause. However, medical institutions across the country are experimenting with a new question: gun ownership status.
Doctors are actively engaging with the newfound role of gun control, comparing conversations about gun safety to seat belt and bicycle helmet precautions. The question is, is this conversation in the doctor's office or just a tool to track and restrict gun ownership?
doctor asks about guns
recently, atlantic He published a work titled doctor asks about your gun We explored the nuances of this latest medical trend. Many doctors interviewed for this article argued that it makes perfect sense to ask about gun safety in the clinic.
Emergency doctor Emmy Betts explained:
“This is the same thing as encouraging people to wear seatbelts, not drink and drive, and exercise.”
When you think about it in these terms, it's hard to see any harm in encouraging safe gun ownership at the doctor's office, after all, at first. Many pamphlets promote safe sex practices, among other safe social participation practices.
However, the article points out that this encroachment on the medical community's discussion of firearms is not new. The article explains:
„Not long ago, leading doctors argued that if guns were causing so much harm, we should stop using them.“
remember the 1990s new york times In an interview with Dr. Mark Rosenberg, director of the CDC Injury Center at the time, the article points to attempts to make gun ownership a social wrong.
„We need to revolutionize the way we look at guns, just like we do about cigarettes. Smoking used to be seen as a symbol of glamour, cool, sexy, macho. Now it's dirty, dangerous, and dangerous. It is prohibited.“
Is that why doctors ask about guns?
It could be argued that society has traded its unhealthy tobacco habits with other people equally, if not more dangerously. In any case, the reality is that gun owners don't think of them in the same way as vices like smoking.
It's not about connections, it's about rights.
In my experience, I think there are two types of gun owners. Others promote ownership through car decals, flags, apparel, and more.
That way you have a type that suits you better. I own a firearm, but I don't broadcast it. The second group points to the difficulty in getting messages and efforts from the medical community and groups supporting gun control measures.
Paul Shea, co-founder of Freedom and Individual Rights in Health Care, writes of gun owners:
“…consider questions about firearm ownership to be intrusive in a different way than questions about drug abuse or sexual partners.”
At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. In fact, questions surrounding something so intimate, such as sexual habits and what individuals put into their bodies, are more intrusive than whether they own a weapon.
The reason becomes clearer when you dig deeper into what doctors can do with that information.
in any case
This article explains that doctors can:
„…you tell a diabetic patient to stop drinking soda three times a day, but you literally can't take soda away from him. If you had a gun, you might be able to do that.“
The above refers to some states that have enacted laws that allow doctors to cooperate with law enforcement and courts and remove guns from patients if they deem it necessary. The Biden administration is promoting a similar effort nationwide, known as the National Extreme Risk Protection (ERPO) Resource Center.
As readers may be familiar with, “Red Flag” Law.
That's why doctors ask about guns.
Ministry of Justice Note that:
“ERPO laws, modeled after domestic violence protection orders, allow law enforcement, family members (in most states), medical professionals, and other parties (in most states) to temporarily protect a person at risk. Creates a civil process that allows a person to apply to a court to prohibit the purchase and possession of a firearm during the period of the order that poses harm to oneself or others.”
It may seem obvious what the risks are, but the reality is that risks can be driven by political pressure. Is anyone at risk from seeing a mental health professional?
Is someone “at risk” if they are a military veteran? Is someone “at risk” if they are a white Christian?
Ultimately, just owning a gun is considered „at risk.“
Related: ATF chief reveals shocking ignorance about firearms while calling for stricter gun laws
more harm than good
Amy Barnhorst, a firearms injury prevention researcher at the University of California, Davis, explains:
„Firearms have far more psychological meaning to people than soda.“
That's because of a little clause called the Second Amendment. The right to bear arms allows citizens to defend their lives, families, and homes.
Gun ownership allows citizens to own not only their most prized possessions; from Notify your government if necessary.
As the article explains, some states are trying to prevent doctors from discussing gun ownership.
„Over the past several decades, some states have enacted laws that limit doctors' ability to talk to patients about firearms and the information they can collect to allay privacy concerns of gun owners.“
Of course, documenting whether a patient owns a gun is much like a firearms registry. Efforts to introduce guns into clinics under the guise of safety will undoubtedly cause suffering for patients. few safety.
Mental health counselor Jake Wiskerchen explains the number of patients:
“…Right now across America, there are people who own guns but won't come to counseling because they don't want their rights to be taken away for real or imagined reasons. ”
Treating medical conditions and mental health issues is an area where medicine will continue to stay. Otherwise, we risk sacrificing gun control considerations.
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