Should Doctors Have Guns?

[Anxious Patient]

The author, a doctor, makes the case that in our climate of daily random violence and desperate drug addicts, a doctor would be wise to have a gun in his office. He brings up the example of emergency rooms having metal detectors and bullet proof glass because shootings have actually occurred there. So he asks:

Would you not see a doctor if you knew he had a gun in his office?

To those who would fear ....... I ask you this, why would a doctor having a gun bother you? Do you live in fear that your physician is trying to kill you? I mean if he really wanted you dead, he could stab you with a scalpel or inject you with something lethal. He could do so with the tools of his profession in a much more efficient manner than with a gun.

http://brainblogger.com/2008/05/09/should-doctors-have-guns/

[VORB]

I have an RN license, and I also have a concealed weapon permit. I'm licensed to care, and I'm licensed to carry. I think you can figure out how I feel on this issue.

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I think it's ridiculous. Extending that logic, then we all should be packing pistols We can have gunfights at high noon at the OK Corral!

[queenjean]

I don't know; just like there are general crazies running around out there, there are a few docs I've met who have such horrible temper problems. I'd honestly be afraid of them if they were armed.

I'd only want our docs to carry guns if the NURSES each got one, too. Frankly, though, in the end I'd probably kill two doctors in particular...or at least shoot their car windows out in the morning.

[oramar]

They have the same right as everyone to carry a gun. They should be careful to comply with the laws of community in which they reside. It would be a good idea to take a firearms class. A series of firearms classes is even better idea. And I say to them and everyone else, please take precautions to keep guns from falling into the wrong hands. Kids know where the keys to the gun cabinet are and they know where the ammo is also. People think they keep things from their kids but they know just about everything you know.

[Batman24]

I agree they have the same right to carry a gun as everyone else but I don't see most docs bringing their gun into the office with them. They would have to carry it from their office after consultations into the exam room and throughout the whole office if they wanted to have it with them at all times. If they put it in a holster under their lab coats it would still be seen and I think many patients would be fearful and leery. I don't want my doc examining me with a gun but that's me.

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

I used to know a doctor who carried a gun in an ankle holster when he visited patients on the unit (locked psych). I know because he showed it to us. He had been attacked by a patient in a parking lot before then. Years later, after showing us the gun, he tazered a patient in his office, who attacked him. He was fired for not following protocol and calling for security (he was an employee of the facility rather than in private practice)...

[lpnflorida]

While the author of the article a Doctor brings up the question. Note , he himself does not have a gun in his office.

Yes, we have guns in our home. I personally do not like it. But loved one does. Fortunately they are not where the grandkids can get at them when they visit.

[BelleKat, BSN, RN]

"licensed to care and licensed to carry..."

That's good,can I borrow it? I like it for a bumper sticker on my car,LOL.

[Equinox_93]

I think it's ridiculous. Extending that logic, then we all should be packing pistols We can have gunfights at high noon at the OK Corral!

Have you ever been faced with a violent person pointing a gun at you or a loved one? If you ever do- I bet you change your mind on this subject... I tend to think most of the people who are vocally against carrying a weapon as a law abiding citizen have never been faced with those who carry weapons who are *not* law abiding citizens...

[FireStarterRN, BSN, RN]

I'm not particularly "anti gun", but it's ridiculous to be packing a gun to work in a clinic. Frankly, I'd refuse to live or work in such a violent and unprotected area. I don't care to live or work in such a place.

What if every citizen was packing a gun? I think that's a bad idea. Let's say everyone chose to do this. Would you feel safer? I wouldn't. I think people would end up shooting each other more. People would lose their tempers and a certain percentage would pull their guns. You'd be living in anarchy.

[mshultz]

I'm not particularly "anti gun", but it's ridiculous to be packing a gun to work in a clinic. Frankly, I'd refuse to live or work in such a violent and unprotected area. I don't care to live or work in such a place.

What if every citizen was packing a gun? I think that's a bad idea. Let's say everyone chose to do this. Would you feel safer? I wouldn't. I think people would end up shooting each other more. People would lose their tempers and a certain percentage would pull their guns. You'd be living in anarchy.

Ohio passed a concealed carry law a few years ago. No anarchy here. In fact, I feel safe enough that I have not bothered to get a concealed carry permit. I took security guard and advanced firearms training many years ago, too. One of my health care practitioners has talked to me about getting a pistol. I do not know whether he bought a pistol, has a concealed carry permit, and brings it to work. I am not afraid of law abiding citizens with firearms.