We received a first-hand report from an ardent JPFO supporter who recently underwent this very type of probing by his doctor. During a physical examination in April 2000,
as part of obtaining a "medical  history," the doctor asked
the patient:

* Do you have any guns?
* If so, how many guns do you have?
* Where are they located?
* Where do you store the guns?
* How much ammunition do you keep?

This line of questioning presents three dangers. First, the "public health" argument for victim disarmament has successfully filtered from the lobbyists down to actual practitioners. Some doctors actually believe that firearms
are dangerous like an open jar of smallpox bacillus.
Second, patients generally trust their doctors and will
submit to these intrusive questions. Not only that, many patients will think the questions are proper and justified ... because their doctor asked them. Our JPFO supporter refused to answer most of these questions-but many other patients will simply comply.

Third, although medical records are supposed to be confidential, that can all change in a heartbeat. There have been repeated moves in Congress to mandate a universal medical health system, or at least a universal medical
identification chip. The chip would contain all of a person's medical records. In both plans the patient's medical data becomes part of a national data base. When doctors collect firearms ownership data, they are helping to build a national gun owner identification system. Even now senior citizens and others using Medicare and Medicaid are subject to
having their medical records reviewed by government agents.

Our JPFO supporter said "no" to this doctor's intrusive questioning, and asked why the doctor was asking all of these questions. The doctor said it was something the American Medical Association was now pushing. Our JPFO supporter complained to the hospital whose spokesperson said that the firearms questions were not hospital policy and that they would investigate the matter.

What you can do:

(1) Tell everyone you know to refuse to answer doctors' questions about personal firearms ownership-even if they don't own a firearm. Doctors and other health care professionals have no business asking such questions,
period.

(2) If your doctor asks questions about your firearms ownership, ask why the doctor is asking, and then report the matter as an invasion of privacy to the hospital.

(3) Encourage doctors to contact and receive information from:

(A) Dr. Edgar Suter, Doctors for Integrity in Policy Research
http://www.dipr.org Article: Guns in the Medical Literature:
A Failure of Peer Review

(B) Dr. Timothy Wheeler, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership Book:
Firearms: A Handbook for Health Professionals.
http://www.claremont.org/1_drgo.cfm

(C) Dr. Miguel Faria, Association of American Physicians
and Surgeons
http://www.haciendapub.com
Article: Docs, Guns & the CDC
Subscribe to The Medical Sentinel (912) 757-9873
The Liberty Crew


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This Alert archived at http://www.jpfo.org/alert20000503.htm
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Copyright 2000 JPFO, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce this alert in full,
so long as the following JPFO contact information is included:
Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
PO Box 270143
Hartford, Wisconsin 53027
Phone: 1-262-673-9745
Orders only: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!)
Fax: 1-262-673-9746
Web: http://www.jpfo.org/
 

                                            
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