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srothstein, I like the way you think. Wouldn't that throw someone for a loop?

Just yesterday my wife showed me something that was sent home with my 14 month old daughter from daycare/school that was from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It is "The Injury Prevention Program" and the thing starts off on page 1 as the very first safety key point with the following statement:

Firearms Hazards
Childern in homes where guns are present are in more danger of being shot by themselves, their friends, or family members than of being injured by an intruder. It is best to keep all guns out of the home. Handguns are especually dangerous. If you choose to keep a gun, keep it uloaded and in a locked place, with the ammunition locked separately. Ask if the homes where your child visits or is cared for have guns and how they are stored.

I often ask most of my neighbors, however my intent is to help them purchase one if they do not have one. I have helped more than half my block procur firearms for either home protection or hunting. Some more than one. So yes, I do ask my neighbors if they have a gun in the home and they all know where to go for help if they do not. I am also the guy they ask to watch their house when they are out of town.....and before anyone asks the last name is not Horn....though I would be greatful if he were one of my neighbors.

srothstein wrote:I support the concept of asking the parents if there are guns in the house. And then, if they say there are none, asking how they are going to protect my child from the potential home invasion or kidnapper.

Asking can work both ways.

I like your style. That is a good question.

I have been instructing my 5-year-old and my 3-year-old about gun safety. They know the basics of Don't Touch/Walk Away/Tell an Adult. If they SEE someone w/ a gun, don't walk, RUN!

I have also begun de-mystifying my 5yo... He is allowed to handle it in a SAFE situation when he asks to do so. Holding an empty gun gets very boring very quickly. He can't rack the slide to check, but he knows that when it's locked open, he has to look into at the chamber to make sure it's safe. He knows to not point it at anyone or himself. He knows to keep his finger off the trigger. He likes how the night sights glow in the dark. That's just about the most fascinating thing to him, but it still gets old quickly.

Teaching our kids about guns is much better than asking neighbors to offer up the information. I plan on asking any of my sons' friends' parents if they ever get to a point where I'm comfortable to let them go inside (I plan on being a strictly outside-only parent unless they become really good friends). Then, I'll consider asking them to make sure he's safe while inside (in case his friend thinks it's cool to show off a gun).

This just got airtime on Fox News this morning. I can just see the collective as outraged as some of us......I patiently wait the day of political in-correctness. It is near.

Since the "Neighbors" section of the DMN is localized, I was unable to find the article in my issue, and couldn't find it on their web site either, so haven't submitted my answer to it.

I always, when visiting a new doctor, which is not that often I know, carry a prepared sheet with me that conducts my own ASK campaign - I ask what qualifies the doctor to give gun safety advice, what assurances any information gathered will not be used improperly exist, and a variety of other things including a sign off line to indicate that they are aware of any and all consequences that may arise and are financially responsible for the same. I pattern it closely after the paperwork most doctors have us sign.

Only once did I ever have a dispute with a doctor about my possession, much less shooting, of guns, and she was our "family" doctor of several years standing. At the beginning of an appointment I mentioned shooting and she went off all over me about how dangerous guns . . . and my response was to give her the verbal version of the sheet and then to fire her. The expression on her face when I told her, in front of her staff, that she was fired was priceless. I also told her that I would not be paying for the appointment because she had not yet conducted any part of the appointment yet and that I considered her diatribe to be malpractice and actionable.

jimlongley wrote:Only once did I ever have a dispute with a doctor about my possession, much less shooting, of guns, and she was our "family" doctor of several years standing. At the beginning of an appointment I mentioned shooting and she went off all over me about how dangerous guns . . . and my response was to give her the verbal version of the sheet and then to fire her. The expression on her face when I told her, in front of her staff, that she was fired was priceless. I also told her that I would not be paying for the appointment because she had not yet conducted any part of the appointment yet and that I considered her diatribe to be malpractice and actionable.

<--- Simply AWESOME! ;-]

I was asked, in a PM, to provide my form - so I decided to post it here. This is in plain text so it needs to be reformatted with appropriate centering and indents. I took this from the Second Amendment Sisters' web site and then modified it to fit my purpose.

I have never actually used the form, just the one incident with the doctor we had been seeing for a few years, and that time I didn't have a copy with me. My general experience with doctors has actually been positive, I used to shoot IDPA with a family doctor and an emergency doctor, and the Osteopath I went to about problems with my arm a while back actually had a shooting related certificate on his wall, which led to a neat conversation.

OTOH, maybe the other doctor, who did the arthroscopic surgery on my shoulder, did such a lousy (can't use real opinion of doctor and work done due to ten year old daughter rule) job because I am a shooter.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Physician
Qualifications and Liability

Firearms Safety Counseling Representation: Physician Qualifications and Liability
Part One: Qualifications
I, _______________________________ affirm that I am certified to offer my patient __________________________________ hereafter referred to as "the Patient," qualified advice about firearms safety in the home, having received the following training (specify course(s) of study):
___________________________________ ___________________________________
From (specify institution(s)):
___________________________________ ___________________________________
On (specify course completion date(s)):
___________________________________ ___________________________________ Resulting in (specify accreditation(s), certification(s), license(s) etc.):
___________________________________ ___________________________________

For Physician
Initial one, as appropriate:
______I represent that I have reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use, safety, storage, and beneficial results of private firearms ownership. I further represent that I have reviewed all other home safety issues with the Patient, including those relating to drains, disposals, compactors, doors, driveway safety, pool safety, pool fence codes and special locks for pool gates, auto safety, gas, broken glass, stored cleaning chemicals, buckets, toilets, sharp objects, garden tools, home tools, power tools, lawnmowers, lawn chemicals, scissors, needles, forks, knives, etc.
I also acknowledge that by receiving this document. I have been made aware that, in his inaugural address before the American Medical Association on June 20, 2001, new president Richard Corlin, MD, admitted "What we don't know about violence and guns is literally killing us . . . researchers do not have the data to tell how kids get guns, if trigger locks work, what the warning signs of violence in schools and at the workplace are, and other critical questions due to lack of research funding." (UPI).
In spite of this admission, I represent that I have sufficient data and expertise to provide expert and clinically sound advice to patients regarding firearms in the home.
or
___ I am knowingly engaging in Home/Firearms Safety Counseling without certification, license or formal training in Risk Management, and; I have not reviewed applicable scientific literature pertaining to defensive gun use, safety, storage, and beneficial results of private firearms ownership.

Part Two: Liability
I have determined, from a review of my medical malpractice insurance, that if I engage in an activity for which I am not certified, such as Firearms Safety Counseling, the carrier (check one as appropriate):

___will ___ will not

cover lawsuits resulting from neglect, lack of qualification, etc.
Insurance Carrier name, address and policy number insuring me for firearms safety expertise:

___________________________________

___________________________________

I further warrant that, should the Patient follow my firearm safety counseling and remove from the home and/or disable firearms with trigger locks or other mechanisms, and if the patient or a family member, friend or visitor is subsequently injured or killed as a result of said removal or disabling, that my malpractice insurance and/or personal assets will cover all actual and punitive damages resulting from a lawsuit initiated by the patient, the patient's legal representative or the patient's survivors.
Signature of attesting physician and date:

___________________________________

___________________________________

Name of attesting physician (please print):

___________________________________

___________________________________

Signature of patient and date:

___________________________________

___________________________________
Name of patient (please print):

___________________________________

Patient should indicate if physician REFUSED TO SIGN by initialing here:_____

Shouldn't they be against swimming pools, which kill far more children than guns?

Just send them an email.

*****
Just out of my curiosity. Why ask other parents about guns? Why not ask them if they have swimming pool? According to CDC, and I quote: fatal drowning rate, per 100,000 people, for children less than 14 is 3.09% while gun related fatality is 0.61%

Your children are 5 times more likely to be drown in a swimming than being killed by a gun.

Are you guys missing the whole forest by looking at one leaf?


**********
Drowning
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5321a1.htm

Firearm related
http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/00046149.htm

I'm a little fuzzy on something. Did the doctor discharge the child from his care because he thinks they have a gun in the house or because they refused to answer the question? What would he have done if they just said, Yes? Would he have still discharged the child after giving them a lecture or just give them the lecture leave it at that? Neither my doctor or daughter's pediatrician has ever asked us this question. Before reading it here it certainly would have caught me off guard. Now, I'm going to have to be prepared for this too.

My possession of a firearm is on a need to know basis and none of my doctors need to know. I'm really not sure how my own doctor would take it if he knew, but I think my daughter's pediatrician would be okay if she knew, but I'm not sure how she would take it if she knew I've carried in her office. OTOH, there are no signs on her stand along building. Who knows? My doctor is in a building that is posted with letters on a glass window that says it is illegal to possess a firearm on these premises. Whatever! It's been there since before 30.06 signs existed, which also means it's been there since before hospitals' statutorily off-limits status was changed.

Ah yes, the PAX campaign.
The reason I stopped buying Levi Strauss products.

Back in 2000, when I got my degree and my first salaried job, I was told the company uniform was "Business casual" - described to me as a Polo shirt and Dockers.
Armed with my first "Real" paycheck I went to the mall and quickly determined I couldn't afford to buy a bunch of shirts by Polo.
Fortunately, I eventually learned that Polo was a style as were Dockers.
Before I spent what was, for me, a large sum of money on clothing, I decided to research the company.
I found out that Levi Strauss and company was a major financial supporter of The Pax Campaign.
I looked into PAX and discovered their rabidly anti-gun rhetoric.
I contacted Levi Strauss to ask why a great American company like them supported an organization that was trying to eliminate one of our basic rights. A vice president responded and told me that PAX was only working for peace (Pax means peace in Latin) and was not anti-gun.
I responded by sending him printouts of their website. At the time, they were lobbying for an extension of the AWB.
The vice president did not respond to me.

I proceeded to buy several hundred dollars worth of non-Levi Strauss clothing and I sent him a copy of the receipt.
I informed him that if he wanted my business back, he could contact me when Levi stopped supporting this organization.
I never heard a word.

I see that PAX is no longer listing corporate sponsors, so maybe I got that changed; but until I have it confirmed that Levi does not support them - I will not buy Levi Strauss products.

I better find out. Levi's are all I wear, at least up until now. Wranglers are cheaper anyway.