Doctors attempt to cure gun ownership - Brief Article

Nutrition Health Review, Fall, 2002

It is a blood-boiling hypothetical scene: You have just spent an hour in your doctor's waiting room for a routine check-up. You are brought back to an examination room to wait 45 more minutes on a cold table. The doctor finally arrives and begins a lengthy lecture on the dangers of owning a gun.

For a moment, you wonder if you have been waiting in the wrong room, but you have not.

The American Society of Internal Medicine and the American College of Physicians (ASIM/ACP) have proposed that their members include questions about gun ownership as part of a regular health questionnaire. Their position is in response to a growing trend in violent crimes involving firearms and accidental shootings in the homes of gun owners. This step may sound rational and heartfelt enough, but it appears to be overly intrusive.

If patients indicate that they do indeed own a gun, the ASIM/ACP expects the physician to inform those patients of the inherent dangers. The result of this line of questioning has caused many patients to feel as if they have been judged irresponsible and incapable of taking legal means to protect themselves and their families.

Most permit-carrying gun owners already know the possible repercussions. They have concluded that the benefits of that degree of protection outweigh the risks of going without any protection. If the aim of the ASIM/ACP's inquiry is designed to keep children safer, perhaps they should look no further than their own institution. The Institute of Medicine reports that anywhere between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year as a result of a physician's mistake. Compare this with the less than 1,000 accidental gun deaths a year, and the ASIM/ACP is confronted with some serious questions.

Many medical associations have guidelines concerning gun ownership; they support stricter background checks, supervised training, and mandatory waiting periods. The ASIM/ACP takes the guidelines one step too far. When physicians ask questions that have nothing to do with any type of medical condition, they infringe upon a patient's right to privacy. Gun ownership is not a disease, and the ASIM/ACP will have little success changing the mind of a responsible, law-abiding gun owner.