Hello all, here is today's article posted on TheArmoryLife.com. It is titled “Does Your Doctor Want To Disarm You?” and can be found at
https://www.thearmorylife.com/does-your-doctor-want-to-disarm-you/.
I am a retired family doctor after 40 years of practice in a semi-rural setting. I was somewhat perplexed by some of the points you made in your article. I will start by listing the firearms that I own: AR-15, M-1 Garand, M-1 Carbine, Remington Nylon-66, Ruger Magpul 10/22 Takedown, Henry U.S. Survival Rifle, Chiappa Badger Takedown Xtreme, Winchester Wildcat, and a Citadel Trakr LR. I enjoy owning, target shooting, and cleaning my rifles. I do not hunt but have no issue with hunting whatsoever.
Most doctors I know have no opinion one way or the other whether or not their patients own firearms as they also don't care what kind of car they drive or whether they rent or own their own home. However, theoretically, that information could possibly have a bearing on their health.
Most jobs have a "weird insular vocabulary." Talk to a carpenter, a plumber, a police officer, a military officer, or someone who works at FedEx. They all have their job-related vocabulary that might be a mystery to someone not of that employment.
As a doctor, I never noted a "preoccupation with mankind's objectionable" bodily functions. It's all part of being human and to most docs is no different than the functioning of your eyes, ears, skin, or joints (or anything else regarding being a living human being.) As a Deputy State Medical Examiner for Maryland, I was certainly affected when I had to go to the scene of an unattended death of someone who put a shotgun in their mouth in a three-story walk-up in July two weeks previously. However, it was not a preoccupation.
During my residency, I was never treated as "dumb as a sack of hammers." I was treated as what I was: a new and inexperienced physician. No one ever treated me as "dumb." Inexperienced, yes. Dumb, no.
As a resident physician not on one occasion in three years did I have the time to "hang out" in the doctor's lounge. We did occasionally gather in the resident's room and bellyache about things.
I was never once even remotely disrespected by an attending (fully trained doctors on the medical staff) physician regarding my income as a resident physician. Not. One. Time. And I never heard of anyone who had been. As a first-year resident, I made about the same income as a first-year public school teacher or a new police officer just out of the academy.
I never heard or noted anything in my training or continuing medical education that indicated that the medical profession in general did not "care for privately owned firearms."
"Guns in the home" is a health inventory question to initiate with a patient just the same as gauging seatbelt use, alcohol and drug consumption, occupation, tobacco use, and sexual activity. Knowledge of those things may help the physician to better understand the patient's home and health situation and to be able to advise on health and safety issues. For example, I also discussed open 5-gallon buckets with those with small children or grandchildren. As a physician and as a Deputy Medical Examiner for the State of Maryland, I saw more than my share of accidental as well as intentional injuries and deaths that were highly likely to have been preventable caused by machinery, farm equipment, vehicles, power tools, and firearms. If a gun owner interprets that question as an insult, a comment on their manhood, or a threat, then that is a person with possible psychological issues. A patient who was a Maryland State Police trooper routinely would put his service weapon on top of the refrigerator when he got home from work. He shared with me the time his 7-year-old daughter was pointing it at him with a smile when he walked into the kitchen one evening. He thanked me for bringing those issues up with him and my patients.
Yes, a discussion of firearm safety often led to a discussion of firearms in general. One patient even included me in his will as a recipient of his M-1 Carbine.
Most accidental firearm discharges leading to injuries or deaths are not caused by criminals or criminal activity. Read the disclaimers on any new firearm's box or instructions. Quotes from the Winchester Wildcat firearm manual: "Failure to follow any of the following warnings could result in serious injury or death." "Never rely totally on your firearm's mechanical safety." And on and on. It would seem half of the manual's type is in boldfaced red printing. Don't tell me it is just to reduce liability. The phrase "Failure to follow any of these warnings could result in serious injury or death" is mentioned 16 times in the 28-page Wildcat manual. You'd be amazed, or maybe you would not be, by the irresponsible and stupid things people do with firearms from inexperience, when intoxicated or high, showing off, joking around, angry, or in an argument. Every warning in that manual and others like it is absolutely true and will not be followed by multiple people in the U.S. over the next 24 hours resulting in themselves, a loved one, a friend, or a child's injury or death.
Yes, please decide who is to be your doctor based on their politics or support for the Second Amendment. While you're at it, include religion, race, sex, and marital status. Don't forget to ask the doctor if they've been unfaithful to their spouse or intend to be unfaithful. These questions are NOT the way to choose a doctor and are unhelpful!
No, capitalism does not "drive" everything in medicine. What "drives" healthcare for the most part are large health insurance companies, Pharma, Medicare, large healthcare systems, choices people make, and government policy. Try "shopping" for a doctor, a less expensive CT scan, or a cheaper helicopter at 2 am after you hit the ER with a trauma code. Or go comparison shopping for a doctor when your 2-year-old's temperature hits 105 and he's seizing.
Sitting next to you, doctor, might not be so safe. You, being armed, might actually draw fire.
At least you carry on an empty chamber.
A question for you: Do you dress "tactically" at work?
