Doc asked my kid about firearms.

[OLDNEWBIE]

I know it's been asked of adults but now pre-teens?

Don't know too much I wasn't there but she was given a questionnaire she said.
Depression/ suicide type questions, personal stuff (assuming sexual in nature) and then Firearms in the home?!

Good on her, her instinct was to lie at first. She did in fact lie about feeling sad at times as she feels being sad on occasions is normal. So do I btw. Angry, sad, anxious etc., we're not robots. Depression is another thing I know but the lines are being blurred nowadays.

She ended up ratting me out on the guns though lol! I'm not so worried yet having a red flag as a gun family in her files but I don't like the trend.

These anti gun people are obsessed and are relentless! Oh no! A statement like that makes me sound paranoid. Better not let the Doc know what I really think!

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[MilitantBEEMER]

It is pretty sad where things appear to be going. I saw a couple of weeks ago it was reported that the FBI is asking Public School officials report any students that are or make any anti government statements... I am so glad I had the financial ability to send our daughter to private schools. This type of stuff makes me angry.... Oops I better be careful with what I say there may be a doctor nearby....

 

[nwwoodsman]

We had a similar situation with our oldest. They asked about hobbies. He told the doc he likes hiking. He didn't mention that it was with a rifle slung over his shoulder with the hopes of killing something. He bragged to me after his appointment that he didn't mention a thing about guns in the house. Good boy.....yes, I'm bragging.

 

[Certaindeaf]

My kid woulda said "You mean our bunker?".



















lol, I don't have any kids

 

[Sgt Nambu]

It is pretty sad where things appear to be going. I saw a couple of weeks ago it was reported that the FBI is asking Public School officials report any students that are or make any anti government statements... I am so glad I had the financial ability to send our daughter to private schools. This type of stuff makes me angry.... Oops I better be careful with what I say there may be a doctor nearby....

Wow! That really makes me mad! We have a duty to be critical of our government! Spying on kids, jeeze!

 

[boogerhook]

My 13yo got a similar questionnaire at his last "inspection", but there were no gun questions - luckily. I told my son to answer all questions truthfully and hand it to the nurse when done. Teen suicide is real, so I don't mind pediatricians trying to catch tendencies early. As for firearms, I would have interacted with the pediatrician. I don't mind if they know we have them, heck at 350 million in the country someone needs to have them ;-) The question is what is this information used for. If it's to lecture parents about safe storage, fine by me. Go for it.

 

[clearconscience]

I have a huge problem with that.
If my kid does something stupid then feel free to blame me for being a crappy parent. I feel we need more blame placed on absent parents these days, but to try to abstract info from teens is a nazi thing to do.

My kids are very young so I answer there questions now. Guns in the house? ........nope.

Makes me feel like I need to be there during their appts for the next 18 years.

 

[BillGabby1]

Booger I think you are a bit naive.
Let your imagination play with the reasons your loving government would like to know all about you, and whether or not you would be able to resist their tyranny. If you admit to their loaded questions that is just one more way they can control you, perhaps even through your children.
It is none of their business. They are on a fishing trip looking for whatever dirt they can dredge up.
Preying on juveniles is really getting low. Most kids don't know the difference enough to respond to a medical question, especially not to a psychological one. Sheesh Check with your Lawyer and see what he says, especially if he's a gun owner too.
Do we have any Lawyers here to speak up about it?
Gabby

 

[Larrytpdx]

lol, I don't have any kids

Whew!

 

[boogerhook]

Booger I think you are a bit naive.
Let your imagination play with the reasons your loving government would like to know all about you, and whether or not you would be able to resist their tyranny. If you admit to their loaded questions that is just one more way they can control you, perhaps even through your children.
It is none of their business. They are on a fishing trip looking for whatever dirt they can dredge up.
Preying on juveniles is really getting low. Most kids don't know the difference enough to respond to a medical question, especially not to a psychological one. Sheesh Check with your Lawyer and see what he says, especially if he's a gun owner too.
Do we have any Lawyers here to speak up about it?
Gabby

Listen, my government already knows how many guns I have. They count handguns locally, and you can call your PD to find out your serial # if one gun goes missing. Does not take a doctor to gather that intelligence. We have lost that privacy a long time ago. So no, I am not naive, and if pediatricians are having a safe storage mission, that's ok by me.

 

[BillGabby1]

LOL
Gabby

 

[Swedish K]

Wow! That really makes mad! We have a duty to be critical of our government! Spying on kids, jeeze!

Worse than that - using your kids to spy on you!
On the kid's doctor office group questionnaire asked in the initial visit but nothing since - at that time I simply wrote N/A - as at that time he couldn't walk let alone pick a lock and get into any of the guns.
Bottom line - doesn't matter what I tell them or claim - I had an 07/02 FFL until about a decade ago so even if I had ZERO guns and they decided to go door to door seizing guns from known owners they would darken my doorstep.

 

[etrain16]

Worse than that - using your kids to spy on you!
On the kid's doctor office group questionnaire asked in the initial visit but nothing since - at that time I simply wrote N/A - as at that time he couldn't walk let alone pick a lock and get into any of the guns.
Bottom line - doesn't matter what I tell them or claim - I had an 07/02 FFL until about a decade ago so even if I had ZERO guns and they decided to go door to door seizing guns from known owners they would darken my doorstep.

I think anyone who has filled out a 4473 is already on a 'list' somewhere (though they're not technically supposed to keep that info - yeah, right ) as well as anyone who has a CHL, used their credit cards at any store that sells guns, gun parts, ammo, scopes, etc. And anyone who has or currently has any of the FFL's. I have an 03 myself. I am under no illusions that, should this government get further out of control and come after gun owners, they already know who all of us are, where we live and likely what we own, at least in part. Being completely invisible to the government is an illusion - there is no way, short of leaving the country and going to an uninhabited island somewhere, that they're not going to have at least some info on you.

I don't believe they surveil the average gun owner on a regular basis. They really don't have the resources to do that. But if the time came that they did want to watch us, they did want to come for our guns, I do believe they have more than enough information already on hand to track us down. I think our best bet is to do everything we can to keep the gun-grabbing freedom-haters out of office everywhere possible - then it won't be an issue.

 

[Joe13]

Boogie Men!


If you are a member of this site then I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but you are already "on the list" - even if you don't own a gun or have never bought one other then private FTF, your still on that list.

Considering over 30% of gun deaths are suicides then I think asking on a paper asking about depression, sexual activity etc is not all that out of line.

If a kid is depressed and thinking of harming themselves AND they have access to a gun then at the least the parents could be warned - I don't advocate for government intervention at all.

What most of us forget is that for every 1000 of us good parents, there are the ones that have no clue what thier kids do day to day. Those are the people that need thier Doctor to ask the questions that the parents should already have an open dialogue about.

There have been many studies and on guns and suicide and many have found that most likely people with guns would not had followed thru with killing themselves if it weren't for the convienience.

That's just my take on it.

They know I have guns - who cares if they ask my kid.

 

[The Heretic]

Guns?

I don't have no stinkin guns!

I used to have guns, but like Sean Penn I saw the light and got rid of them all.

 

[David Bowman]

I feel, and I will be passing this on to my son, that lying to people who would not have a moral dilemma lying to others about who you are is not wrong.

It is pretty difficult for me to lie about having them, but my health care providers have never asked me or my son about it, so I am not worried at the moment. My son has already been instructed however that if anyone from his school, his doctor, or any government official asks you if your parents have guns in your home, you say "no."

And leave the answering of those questions in further detail to me.

 

[etrain16]

Boogie Men!


If you are a member of this site then I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but you are already "on the list" - even if you don't own a gun or have never bought one other then private FTF, your still on that list.

Considering over 30% of gun deaths are suicides then I think asking on a paper asking about depression, sexual activity etc is not all that out of line.

If a kid is depressed and thinking of harming themselves AND they have access to a gun then at the least the parents could be warned - I don't advocate for government intervention at all.

What most of us forget is that for every 1000 of us good parents, there are the ones that have no clue what thier kids do day to day. Those are the people that need thier Doctor to ask the questions that the parents should already have an open dialogue about.

There have been many studies and on guns and suicide and many have found that most likely people with guns would not had followed thru with killing themselves if it weren't for the convienience.

That's just my take on it.

They know I have guns - who cares if they ask my kid.

I guess my first question is - would the doctor tell the parents? We already know that some things can be done, such as giving birth control, even giving abortions, without parental consent. So who's to say they would in fact inform the parents of this concern? Even minor children can be protected by doctor/patient confidentiality. Perhaps @bolus could better address that part of the discussion. The good doctor has been kind enough to weigh in on this issue before, so maybe he'll help enlighten us again.

And let's say that maybe they don't share with the parents, then what? Do they contact DHS? Let them know there is a potentially 'depressed' kid in a house with guns? What happens then? The damn DHS stormtroopers show up with the cops and take custody, now starting a legal battle that could be drawn out for a long time. Beyond that, what power does the doctor have to do anything with the information they've gathered? Are they personally going to get involved? My guess on that is no, they won't. So if it's not either one of those, then why the hell do they need the information in the first place?

You are right, there are parents out there that aren't closely involved in their kid's lives, but should everyone else have their privacy invaded for those few that don't pay attention? I've never been a fan of passing laws because a few people make poor choices or do something stupid. I'm one of those that prefers the whole 'dangerous freedom' side of things

I guess I'm simply of the opinion that if there isn't a really darn good reason to ask those questions and collect that data, that they need to just keep their questions to themselves. If I had more trust in our government to do the 'right' things, I don't think it would bother me as much. But they instill very little confidence these days.

 

[boogerhook]

@Joe13 - suicides are about 60% of the gun death rate, which makes your point even more valid - I think.

 

[Joe13]

Appreciate the fact check

I'm pretty tired today.

 

[Joe13]

I guess my first question is - would the doctor tell the parents? We already know that some things can be done, such as giving birth control, even giving abortions, without parental consent. So who's to say they would in fact inform the parents of this concern? Even minor children can be protected by doctor/patient confidentiality. Perhaps @bolus could better address that part of the discussion. The good doctor has been kind enough to weigh in on this issue before, so maybe he'll help enlighten us again.

And let's say that maybe they don't share with the parents, then what? Do they contact DHS? Let them know there is a potentially 'depressed' kid in a house with guns? What happens then? The damn DHS stormtroopers show up with the cops and take custody, now starting a legal battle that could be drawn out for a long time. Beyond that, what power does the doctor have to do anything with the information they've gathered? Are they personally going to get involved? My guess on that is no, they won't. So if it's not either one of those, then why the hell do they need the information in the first place?

You are right, there are parents out there that aren't closely involved in their kid's lives, but should everyone else have their privacy invaded for those few that don't pay attention? I've never been a fan of passing laws because a few people make poor choices or do something stupid. I'm one of those that prefers the whole 'dangerous freedom' side of things

I guess I'm simply of the opinion that if there isn't a really darn good reason to ask those questions and collect that data, that they need to just keep their questions to themselves. If I had more trust in our government to do the 'right' things, I don't think it would bother me as much. But they instill very little confidence these days.

Conveniently enough, I'm going to respond with this whole post:

I feel, and I will be passing this on to my son, that lying to people who would not have a moral dilemma lying to others about who you are is not wrong.

It is pretty difficult for me to lie about having them, but my health care providers have never asked me or my son about it, so I am not worried at the moment. My son has already been instructed however that if anyone from his school, his doctor, or any government official asks you if your parents have guns in your home, you say "no."

And leave the answering of those questions in further detail to me.

I may have been generalizing because we have the good fortune to have been with the same pediatrician all 18 years of my girls life so we have a good relationship with him. So I guess it's true that it may not be the case for everyone.

At which point I agree with telling your kids to be ok with keeping private information private.