“Anyone who believes that physicians should not warn patients about gun risk is either a jerk, a dope or a paid or non-paid mouthpiece for Gun-nut Nation writ large. Should doctors refrain from telling patients to use seat belts in cars? Should doctors avoid mentioning that unsealed medicines should be kept away from kids? And anyone who actually believes that physicians are part of a secret cabal that collect names of gun owners so that it will be easier to take all the guns away is someone who can go talk to the Martians living in Area 51.” – Mike “The Gun Guy” Weisser in Massachusetts Is Offering A Model For How Doctors Can Talk To Their Patients About Guns [via huffingtonpost.com]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

75 COMMENTS

  1. If doctors warned their patients about everything that could be dangerous for them you better have a six and a half hour office visit planned LOL. That’s absolutely ridiculous doctors have no right to ask or warn their patients about anything that relates to Firearms automobiles fire trucks knives that’s not for them to step in. That’s for your parents when your a baby in a young person growing up to inform you on how to handle what would be considered dangerous items such as a bicycle a lawnmower a firearm and it continues on and on and on.

  2. Oh look, another worthless quisling FLAME DELETED. The fact that he would even take HuffPo money tells me everything I need to know.

    • To be fair, I’d take HuffPo’s money. I’d rather someone staunchly pro-gun and pro-freedom (read: me) have it than them.

    • I don’t Huffpo pays contributors, or at least most of them. They promise ‘exposure’ instead of money, all the while supporting a 15/hr minimum wage and not seeing the irony.

  4. I visit the doc every 6 months of my life. The only advice I’ve ever gotten was either directly asked for or directly related to a specific issue at the time. Not once has a doctor ever told me to wear a seatbelt or wear a helmet or to look both ways before crossing the road.

    I’m guessing by the looks of him Mike hasn’t seen a doctor in 20 years or more so he can be forgiven for apparently having no idea what a doctors visit entails.

  5. It is very interesting that the medical community, at large, seems to think that it is responsible for our good health and we are not. Especially since they kill 750,000 of us through malpractice every year. When I take my car to the shop, I expect them to fix the problem or perform the maintenance I hired them to do. If I ASK them for advice, then I expect them to enlighten me with their related expertise. If I don’t ASK, then I simply expect them to do the work. The same thing goes with payment. I do not pay until the services are rendered and I am satisfied with the results. You should see the expression on doctor office receptionist’s faces when I refuse to pay up front and ask them “What if I am not satisfied with your services?”. Also, if I make an appointment, I expect it to be on time. If I have to wait 31 minutes, I’m out the door and find another doctor. The medical industry needs an attitude adjustment; that they are nothing more than hired grease monkeys and that and they work for us.

    • It is very interesting that the medical community, at large, seems to think that it is responsible for our good health and we are not. Especially since they kill 750,000 of us through malpractice every year.

      Exactly the point I was going to make.

      Some 500 accidental deaths annually result from firearms use. Doctors would serve us much better by warning us of the risks of engaging in the services of health care, which result in several orders of magnitude more accidental deaths annually.

      • Actually accurate numbers here. Just think, doctors/health unprofessional establishment kill as many people in 6 HOURS as guns do in one year. Just another reason I have NOT seen a damn doctor in over 50 years; gotta keep it going.

    • I, on the other hand, fully expect my doctor to spend the time needed with me, especially if there’s an emergency.
      So, I schedule my doctor appointments in the morning, as early as possible, in case the doctor needs to spend extra time on another patient, or if there’s an emergency, so I don’t need to sit int he waiting room if that happens. And it does happen.
      Just like if my mechanic tells me my car will be ready at 3:00, I fully understand that something might happen to make it later.
      I find this attitude makes my life much easier.

      • You’d have a point if it wasn’t a given that every person who has a scheduled appointment expects the doctor to be late. A doctor who sees that your time is a valuable as his is a great find.

  6. I didn’t realize medical doctors were our parents until this FLAME DELETED pointed it out.

  7. If doctors really wanted to have an honest discussion about safety they would begin with warning you about the dangers of going to see the doctor. With doctor related fatal errors at three times the number of annual firearms deaths they have little room to preach.

  8. “…And anyone who actually believes that physicians are part of a secret cabal that collect names of gun owners so that it will be easier to take all the guns away”

    Listen up you useless waste of oxygen….

    Doctors, generally, care SFA about your firearms. Just like any other large group of people you are going to have some supporters, some detractors, and a whole bunch of people in the middle of the curve with varying levels of ‘meh.

    The problem with Doctor’s asking about firearms is two fold…. the first one is simple enough, why? Why is there a checkbox on the form specifically asking ‘do you own firearms?’ Why ask about firearms and not about any other of a very large number of things that could be considered ‘dangerous?’ Why not ask about pool chemicals? Or sharp knives? Or…. Or…. Or….

    The second one is the one you don’t get, Mr I Hate Guns Guy, and that is the fact that the Doctor is expected to write down the answer to the question about Firearms. And you are just stupid enough to ask ‘so?’ A few years back this thing called the Affordable Care Act was put in place, you might know it as Obamacare. One of the many requirements that Act put in place was Electronic Medical Records, EMR’s. The theory is that people don’t always go to ‘their’ doctor, they are travelling, they changed jobs, whatever it is they can simply call up their ‘old’ doctor and with a few keystrokes their medical history can be transferred to the ‘new’ doctor. And you are still stupid enough to be asking ‘so?’ The EMR requirements were designed so that the records are transmitted to, through, and sometimes even stored on government accessed or government controlled servers. That means a Doctor asks you if you own firearms, you say yes, the Doctor checks the box on the screen, now the Government has access to your name and address and the fact that you own firearms.

    The Doctors may not be willing members in this Cabal, but members they are if they ask you if you own Firearms.

    • Sorry for getting carried away there… the Docs Not Glocks issue is one of my really-hot-button issues.

      FLAME DELETED

      • No apology necessary. I didn’t even think of the ACA digitization requirement. I was just thinking about doctors like this guy who ARE out to get our guns.

    • The problem with telling your gun ownership status to your physician is HIPAA. While this law is alleged to provide privacy, it is an illusion. Having been in academic medicine for 25 years, I know first hand about something called the ‘business partner agreement’, which allows someone besides your doctor to look at your records. It turns out that these agreements can be chained together to allow yet others to view your records. That means that if you tell your doctor that you own a gun (a question pushed by the AMA), the government can and will know.

      • “…It turns out that these agreements can be chained together to allow yet others to view your records. That means that if you tell your doctor that you own a gun (a question pushed by the AMA), the government can and will know.”

        The chained together agreements… lets start with the insurance provider. Which could mean that your other insurances could be affected because this insurance company owns that insurance company and shares records so your medical records cross over into your life insurance, which may be provided by the same group/company as your rental/homeowners insurance. No potential for abuse there.

        And the large majority of people still get their insurance through the workplace so the people you work for have access to the information and can find out if you own firearms. Your employer can’t ask about your medical diagnosis, but the ‘demographics’ information that includes the check-box for firearms is completely shareable with your employer. No potential for abuse there either.

        Doesn’t take too many steps in the information chain to get your blood pressure up.

        And from there it doesn’t take to many words to earn you a “FLAME DELETED” from the admins.

  9. Mike – can you see this hand signal I’m sending your way?

    I also don’t care what my lawyer cares about my lawn maintenance practices or the plumbers opinion on the roof condition.

  11. Yeah, because doctors should definitely exacerbate the lack of trust that folks already have.

  12. Ah, this clown again…I wonder why anybody on his side thinks he has enough credibility to convince somebody to even breathe.

  13. Aw, it’s been awhile since we’ve heard from this little FLAME DELETED. You know how sometimes it’s just so fun to hate someone else? This is that guy. He is so laughably pathetic, but the persona he puts on just makes you hate him all the more. I think what particularly irks me is that the faux intellectual airheads that read his garbage at HuffPo actually think he is representative of the average gun owner. This is just a guy who happens to have purchased a firearm or two in his life. He is in no way a “gun guy” and certainly not “the” gun guy.

    • That FLAME DELETED is to the gun community what kapos were to political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. A traitor.

  14. Yea, I’m fine with being a jerk. If you’re so stupid that you need a doctor to inform you that a bullet traveling at supersonic speed can damage flesh you probably should just go ahead and step out in front of a speeding bus and get it over with already.

  15. If he’s the “gun guy,” I’m the “rocket surgery” guy. 😉

    In Florida, at least, doctors have to take a course (every two years) on “Medical Errors.” I’m a dentist, and I have to take it!

    Depending on the source, the estimated of deaths caused by medical errors is around 350,000 / year in the U.S. As someone else already pointed out, there are about 500 – 550 accidental gun deaths per year in the U.S.

    Oddly (not), doctors DON’T have to take a biennial course on Gun Safety. And, they’re qualified to advise patients on this subject?

    I am a certified NRA Pistol Instructor and Range Safety Officer… so, theoretically, I COULD advise patients on Gun Safety, eh? 😀

  16. The backdrop seems to say “Docs Prefer Glocks”.
    Was that the intention ? Did the AMA actually make a real survey ?
    Is it 9 out of 10 prefer Glocks or some other percentage ?

  18. MIkey’s comments are not directed toward us, the gun owning Americans. They are directed toward gun haters. His snipes are meant to help the haters feel more smug and confident (unchallenged) in their positions. Most importantly, they are meant to keep those haters coming back and clicking on PuffHo.

  19. Lemmesee:

    Accidental deaths per year in the US due to drugs: ~47,000
    Accidental deaths per year in the US due to automobiles: ~35,000
    Accidental deaths per year in the US due to drowning: ~3,500
    Accidental deaths per year in the US due to firearms: ~500

    Methinks that there are more important accidents to avoid.

    But of course if you wish to mislead by conflating deliberate, criminal misuse of firerams with firearm accidents, yhea, I can see your [completely bogus] point.

    O2

  20. Meh…I WAS asked at my doctors about guns. What’s a gun?!? I don’t answer polls,talk to weirdos at the door or post pictures on social media. The portly gun goof shouldn’t have it’s photo published either…

  21. My doctor asks about activities I participate in that might cause hearing loss. Then reminds me to use hearing protection and offers me a pair of reusable tri flange. That’s doctoring. That conversation can be had without making a list of who owns guns.

    How is it so complicated for these people to understand that it is currently well within the law for a doctor to bring up safe gun storage, or proper hearing protection?!?

    What POG are upset about is government mandating doctors making lists of gun owners. Which would amount to a registry lite. A registry lite which would pave the way for future government policies to take guns based on doctor recommendations. FLAME DELETED that.

  22. I switched to a new doctor after moving closer too my job. And switched again after the first visit when he asked me of I had any firearms in the house.
    Then proceeded to tell me how dangerous they were even though I didn’t answer the question.

  24. I’ll just save the TTAG moderators the trouble of censoring my post. This corpulent “FLAME DELETED” frequently flirts around the edges of sanity, but with this post, he has completing lost it. Any semblance of reason has obviously been abandoned – and I think the “logic” displayed by that “FLAME DELETED” fully demonstrates that he is not only a danger to free-thinking people, but likely a danger to himself. Does anyone know where he is? If it’s a state with protective orders to take away guns for your own safety (ha!), he’s truly a candidate to have that law invoked.

  26. Oh boy, this FLAME DELETED.

    “Should doctors refrain from telling patients to use seat belts in cars? Should doctors avoid mentioning that unsealed medicines should be kept away from kids? ”

    Uh, yeah, they shouldn’t. Their job is to diagnose my medical condition. My job is to do everything else, including the above.

  27. Doctors, as a group, suffer from institutional arrogance. They are not unique in this, in fact it’s pretty common among many non-scientific professions which require extended training, and not at all uncommon among scientists. (Most MDs aren’t scientists but rather medical technicians with advanced training … but that’s another discussion.)

    It tends to manifest as a belief that because one is (presumably) intelligent and well-trained in one area, they are also competent in areas outside their areas of expertise. This is why (for instance) many MDs make poor investment choices, and part of the reason Bonanza aircraft are known as doctor-killers.

    This nonsense simply encourages that belief. If I want to learn how to shoot a pistol safely I’m not going to ask my doctor, any more than I would ask my firearms instructor which cholesterol reducing medication he’d recommend. The difference is, my firearms instructor would probably not give me a lecture on the danger of butter, especially unsolicited.

  28. The only doctor I talk to about guns is the retired one at the range who asks me for advice on using shotgun.
    Nice gentleman who is getting back into hunting now he has some time

  29. I’ve said this before:

    The only reasonable way I can see a doctor bringing up the topic of firearms in a professional context is with first time parents when the topic of “Your kid is getting old enough to get into things that can hurt them, this is called ‘babyproofing’ your house” kind of way and that’s only if parents ask.

  30. If any of you ever experience a doctor asking you about gun ownership, I highly suggest you play along. Ask questions, lots and lots of questions. How does the trigger work? Which button is the safety? How can I tell if it is loaded? What’s the difference between a revolver and an automatic? If I hold the trigger down, how many bullets will come out of it. If I move my hand real fast, will the bullet curve in the air like in that movie? How far will a 9mm bullet go? 45acp? Shotgun?
    Don’t leave until you get all the answers. If the Dr. can’t answer your questions, call your state board and the AMA from the lobby of the Dr.’s office and let them know your doctor wasn’t able to answer even the most basic questions about the health care issue your doctor said you should be concerned with. Let them know about your doctor’s complete ignorance and inability to assist you with your health issue. Make sure that everyone in the lobby hears your dissatisfaction and understands your doctor’s ignorance on a vital healthcare issue.
    It will be the most enjoyable copay you ever spent.

    • …And then look for another doctor, because you’ll have pretty much destroyed the working relationship with this one.

      Not saying don’t do it, just be aware of the consequences.

      • If you’re a regular reader of this site and have a doctor that’s anti gun enough to bring up the topic then I’d say that relationship was going nowhere fast from the start.

        It would be kind of like your doctor walking in, seeing you in a Triumph shirt and going on a rant about how evil motorcycles are.

  31. Meh, this isn’t one I’d get all worked up about. If my doctor said, “hey, be careful with guns” I’d probably just ignore it like most other medical advice and keep on owning guns, eating cheese burgers, and drinking lots of beer.

    All these people who want to live as long as possible no matter what simple pleasures they have to give up must have some incredibly important, fulfilling lives or something.

  32. DRGO just published this historical perspective on the long-standing anti-gun bias and advocacy in the American medical establishment:

    https://drgo.us/?p=5420

    Mike is one of the many mouthpieces who push disinformation and propaganda to cover up the truth about the appalling anti-RKBA efforts of medical academicians.

    DRGO’s position is that physicians can discuss firearms ownership *WHEN CLINICALLY RELEVANT*. However, the recent FOPA ruling gives uninformed, anti-gun doctors legal cover to abuse the doctor-patient relationship. It allows doctors to badger and misinform patients while claiming to be supported by long-debunked “research” with the *STATED* intent of influencing the exercise of Second Amendment rights by potentially thousands of individuals and inappropriately swaying public opinion.

    Arthur Z Przebinda, MD
    Project Director
    Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership

  33. Anyone who conflates the object or method someone might use to commit suicide with the mental health REASON someone would commit suicide in the first place is either oblivious, a complete jerk, or both. Sadly, a lot of people commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge in California. Should doctors warn patients about the health risks of the Golden Gate Bridge? According to Mike Weisser’s logic, yes they should.

  34. Do the doctors warn you about the potential for addiction and over dose when perscribing opiates to every other guy who comes through the door?

    • ”

      Do the doctors warn you about the potential for addiction and over dose when perscribing opiates to every other guy who comes through the door?”

      My PCP does. I use prescribed Vicodin (hydrocodone) for chronic pain. I use less than prescribed. I sign a “drug contract” to get that pain killer. It says I will not go to another doctor to get another opiate, among other things. It’s a requirement of my HMO. There’s a growing reason for that, you may have heard of it in the news.

      I’ve been a mechanic. I loved the guys who came in and said, “Do this. It will solve my problem.” Easy money, with more to come. Usually, what they wanted done wouldn’t solve the problem, so they need to have the problem solved after I took their money for doing as they wanted. Oh, I’d tell them it wouldn’t solve the problem, even write it on the work order they signed. They still knew more than the mechanic. Often because their “friend” told them what the problem was, and how to fix it. Of course, this “friend,” who knew so much, couldn’t actually fix the problem, so I got to get paid for doing what rhe “friend” said would fix the problem. Then I got paid to actually fix the problem.
      Treat your doctor like a mechanic. He really doesn’t care. He gets paid either way. Just like the mechanic.

  35. I’ve never had a doctor mention seat belt use or guns for that matter. If he/she did, I’d politely tell he/she to mind their own business.

  36. And anyone who actually believes that physicians are part of a secret cabal that collect names of gun owners so that it will be easier to take all the guns away is someone who can go talk to the Martians living in Area 51.”
    General Electric got paid to put the servers together back when Hillary was in the WH (as second-string)
    http://www3.gehealthcare.com/en/Products/Categories/Healthcare_IT/Electronic_Medical_Records”

    General Electric got paid to put the medical records servers together back when Hillary was in the White House (as second-string).
    http://www3.gehealthcare.com/en/Products/Categories/Healthcare_IT/Electronic_Medical_Records
    Hillary did it in compliance or commiseration (OR SHE GOT KICK BACKS) with the UN’s Agenda 2015 which came about from UN meetings in 1992-1993 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/post2015
    The goals of which included universal health “coverage” (yeah, not universal “health care” you fing aholes) and “safety” which is a nice little term for “gun control” https://www.un.org/disarmament/wmd/

    And they are still pushing for all of those things.https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf

    Mr. Weisser IS a FLAME DELETED

  39. When the physician or her assistant asked whether there were any guns in the house, I honestly answered no.

    Nobody was home just then, so the guns were all either locked in the safe in the garage (not in the house), or personally borne outside the house by me or another family member.

  41. There’s enough of a data trail behind me and probably everyone commenting here so much so that the feds can figure out who has the guns if and when they want, so I don’t think it’s going to make much difference long term whether or not doctors and Obamacare ask about ’em. That being said, it’s still none of their business to be asking that sort of question. It’s about as relevant to your health as it would be for your car mechanic to ask what kind of music you play through your car’s speakers is to diagnosing an engine noise.

    • “…so that the feds can figure out who has the guns if and when they want”

      True.

      We shouldn’t be giving them this nice little data point in what amounts to a great big flat database file just begging to be compiled and collated…. Isn’t it our patriotic duty to do everything we can to make them making the registry as hard as possible?

  42. You see here this is a good example of the intrinsic corruption of the political left in the US. They still think that enumerated natural rights are up for debate if they can invent a convincing enough reason. They want everyone to think that rights are a privilege that can just be taken away without the due course of law if they spin up enough hyperbole and leftist outrage with neo-liberal dog whistles about safety and mental health.

  43. Doctors have no reason to preach about gun possession, but the can be good resources for ancillary topics. Hearing protection, lead exposure, shot placement…

  44. I go to the VA so my doctor has always been like, “so, how I can I get you back out the door today?”

    That said, I have more expertise with the dangers of firearms than my doctor does. If my doctor ever tried to educate me on such a thing I’d have a new doctor and a letter to my congressman started before she finished speaking.

    A doctor isn’t there to advise you on things that they have no particular knowledge of, just because it could conceivably harm you in some way. Should they be warning about under tow at the beach too? instructing people on the proper way to slice onions, lest we cut ourselves? Advising everyone on the proper use of a ladder?

    Certainly not, because doctors aren’t there or trained to know and tell you about everything that be tangentially connected to health.

  45. “Should doctors refrain from telling patients to use seat belts in cars? Should doctors avoid mentioning that unsealed medicines should be kept away from kids?”

    If my doctor started doing that, I’d be tempted to kick his ass. Anyone treating me like I’m some sort of moron is not someone I want to associate with. I’m annoyed with doctors who tell me things they are supposed too. “Hey doc, as soon as you give up red meat and whiskey, I will too.”

  47. No doctor has a right to question me on anything not directly related to my medical care. He/She can advise me on tests I need, about my meds, etc.

    Guns have nothing to do with my medical care unless I have been wounded. Seatbelts have nothing to do with my medical care unless I have been injured in an accident.

    Medications are part of my medical care. The doctor can advise me to read the included fact sheet, store in a cool dry place, refrigerate, and even advise me that the container has a childproof cap which is good if there are children in the home.

    What’s next? The fire department sends people around to make sure my home is match proofed?

  48. The last time I went to my urologist I pulled out my cell phone and showed him my latest AR build. He’s been thinking about a high end 1911 (sticking your finger up old fat guy’s butts pays pretty well) so we had a good discussion about what pistols he might consider. A good doc, a good guy and a fellow shooter.

  49. Dear TTAG,

    Please stop covering what Mikey the Fun Guy says in Huffpo. I would much rather see what some new anti-gun blood has to say. Why give HuffPo any more clicks? They are not our friend. Mikey is definitely not our friend. I am pretty sure we can safely ignore him until his unfortunate demise.

Comments are closed.