The war on gun owners' privacy

November 5, 11:13 AMSt. Louis Gun Rights ExaminerKurt Hofmann

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     Oleg Volk photo

The forcible citizen disarmament lobby is well aware that they're unlikely to win the War on Guns in the immediate future.  That's alright with them, though, because they have the patience to fight the long war.  One of the fronts on which they fight the war on private gun ownership is the push to make gun ownership less, well . . . private.

We see it with the efforts to close the mythical "gun show loophole," which is not only not a "loophole," but is also not confined to gun shows--they want to ban all private sales, whether at gun shows or not.

Heading off another manifestation of this attack on gun owners' privacy is the purpose of a bill introduced in Florida, by Florida State Senator Thad Altman.  Here's a summary of S. 530:

Prohibits an adoption agency or entity from making suitability determinations based on, requiring disclosure relating to, or restricting the lawful possession, storage, or use of a firearm or ammunition. EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon becoming law.

     Oleg Volk photo

The need for such legislation became apparent when a Florida couple attempted to adopt a child, and was asked by the adoption agency if there were guns in the house.

NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer said adoption agencies are violating gun-owners' rights by asking about firearms in an adoption form. She said any request about gun ownership from an agency connected with government was tantamount to establishing a gun registry.

``Gun registration is illegal in Florida,'' Hammer said. ``An adoption agency has no right to subvert the privacy rights of gun owners.''

The issue flared up in Brevard County where a gun-owning couple took umbrage at a request from the Children's Home Society that they disclose if they had firearms before adopting a child.

I can only assume that a revelation that there are indeed guns in the home would constitute a point against a prospective adoptive couple--that children are better off in a defenseless home--and that's without even getting into Ms. Hammer's excellent point about the implications of agencies with government connections demanding information about citizens' guns.

Newspapers, in publishing lists of people with firearm carry permits, are also in on the efforts to chip away at gun owners' privacy--a point I've discussed before, and one that is even now receiving attention in Tennessee.

Perhaps most disturbing to me, though, is the fact that family physicians are increasingly asking their patients about gun ownership.  Just over a year ago, I discussed that on my blog, where I linked to this video. 

About halfway into the 100 second video segment, Doctor Jud Richland, Executive Director of the American College of Preventive Medicine, says:

Just as you would go into a doctor's office, and hopefully the doctor would ask, "Do you smoke, do you exercise?" any physician or other health care provider should ask, "Do you have a gun in the home?"

From there, it gets worse:

Narrator: The ACPM [American College of Preventive Medicine] is also pushing a licensing system.

Jud Richland, MPH (Executive Director ACPM): We'd like to see, uh, people get licenses before they can purchase guns, so that would require them to demonstrate that they know how to use a weapon safely, maybe by taking just a very short safety course.

Even without such a licensing scheme, there is much to object to in physicians' growing nosiness about guns in the home.  With the accelerating trend to push all medical care providers to compile all their patients' health records in an electronic database, to which the government has access, this, too becomes a de facto gun registry.

The bottom line is that one's ownership of firearms is no one else's business, and an attack on gun owners' privacy is an attack on private gun ownership, anathema to anyone who cherishes the Constitutionally guaranteed, fundamental human right of the individual to keep and bear arms--the right that shall not be infringed.

Update: Anchorage Libertarian Examiner Kevin Wilmeth reminds me of some excellent material National Gun Rights Examiner David Codrea has written about this: First Do No Harm.  In it, he helpfully includes a link to the Physicians Qualifications and Liability Form (pdf file) that he and former LA County Deputy Sheriff Joe Horn put together, for patients to present to their "gun-inquisitive" physicians.  An essential resource.