Medical Professions and Guns - I'm Curious

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most anti gun are people who have been insulated from reality, insulated from life.
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Lots of possible theories, for example:

  • They were the nerdy types who got good grades in school, and the last thing they want is bullies with guns.
  • They are used to the idea of an intellectual aristocracy, and a rabble with guns is horrifying.
  • They are in a European and Ivy League dominated milieu, and must emulate the effete, an perhaps feminized, ideals of that environment.
  • They are used to the idea that there is one right idea, and it comes from professors, presidents of professional societies, and books.
There are many other, less generous theories. I suspect they all tell a very small part of the story.
 
Dentist here (couldn't guess from the SN right?). Geography I think plays a big role in that here in AZ most of the dentists I know do own firearms. If I was practicing in Manhatten my experience would be different.
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Great point about Geography. The medical folks around here are into guns and hunting, as is everyone in rural Nevada.

Even teachers around here are progun.
 
I am a pharmacist and my best friend is an MD, we both have an unhealthy firearms addiction.:D
 
"Tinpig, its the preparation of these people that causes them to be insulated. They attend school for many years, talk only to like minded people, don't get out much with regular folks. They are never short on ego and tend to have like minded friends. They know a whole lot about very little. They're specialists, but don't know how to change a tire. That's where the problems start. By the time they are working the "streets" the group think is already in place."

This applies to just about any other profession.

I know docs like this. But I also know teachers, lawyers, bakers, etc...who fit this profile.

Yeah, I got an ego. Who doesn't?

edit: The above quote is too narrow a view of docs. They are folks whose experience and life encompass all walks of life.
 
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I'm retired military and work in a military hospital. So every doctor that I know is in to guns but they too are military. So where do we fall in your query?
 
I'm a medical student. Does that count? :D

But I'm inclined to agree with some of the observations others have posted. Most of my colleagues/professors/etc are all pretty liberal minded and if they don't approach firearms with that "on the fence apprehension" they are outright anti-gun.
 
Whalerman, while it is easy to assume that physicians only "know" medicine, you should rethink that. :scrutiny: I consider myself to be pretty handy, availing myself to various hobbies as well as living as active of a lifestyle as I can while in school. You shouldn't assume that physicians are that far-separated from everyday people. Medicine is not like what you see on TV.

I highly doubt that I will lose my tire-changing capabilities once I receive my doctorate, but we shall see... you may be right yet. :rolleyes:
 
Yeah, some docs are narrow minded.

Some are very cool.

I just finished my head gasket and re-sealed my front axle.

I'll be shooting steel plates w/ my trauma & anesthesia buds this weekend.

Later this year, I'll attend my Force Recon re-union: those boys are insulated and egotistical!

Maybe I'll try to catch up with my Ranger buddy, too.

Yeah, being an ER doc, I know much about little.:neener:

It's all in good fun.;)
 
During the occasional check up here is a question I get from the doc:

"When you hunt, do you wear electronic muffs? Ear plugs? or nothing?"

Me: "Muffs or plugs"

Doc: "In that case I bet your hearing is better than mine. I still have trouble finding my earplugs when I get out into the field!"
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGYttXa0d1k

Look, Jeff Cooper was a keynote speaker at the15th Annual Meeting of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness held in San Diego, California; June 1997!

I see the issue two ways:

1) For the sake of argument, lets say that most doctors are anti-gun. Popular culture does, IMO, portray the medical profession as being anti-violence. Chances are there are some out there that are trying to fit in with this image, because it is human nature to want to fit in.

Also, look at the kind of people that are drawn to the medical proffession - they want to help others, they are intelectual, and possess the patience and discipline to go to school for a few extra years (I'm taking medical terminology this quarter, and that class alone has given me so much more respect for anyone who goes through med school.) The proffession doesn't necessarily atract the kind of people that would be into guns.

On the other hand,

2) Lets say, for the sake of argument, that most in the medical field are pro-gun. Depending on your discipline, the medical field can atract the guys who like the chaotic emergency room enviroment, or aren't afraid of getting thier hands dirty at the Operating Table. They may have a predisposition to being por-gun. Thier brain may be wired like a cop's, or soldiers.

I think its like most things, where you've got the left, right, everything inbetween, and then some.
 
My best friend is a ER doc and he carries everyday.

Very deep concealment/not a word to anyone.

My wife will be a carrying dentist.
 
Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems like there is also a disproportionate representation of medical professionals as well. Medics, EMTs, Nurses, etc. However, it also seems that there are relatively few physicians.
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I don't know about that. I recently traded a glock for an XDM. The guy was a nurse and several of his coworkers were shooting buddies from what he said.

You'd never get an accurate picture of any demographic based on this forum. I've traded pistols and rifles (including ccw stuff) with more than one pastor, also.
 
Just remembered that the dentist and cardiologist had American Rifleman mags in the waiting room. Could be TX, though. :D
 
I'm a physician (otolaryngology/head&neck surgery) and into guns. I have seen and dealt with the horrific injuries caused by firearms; it just makes me take the 4 rules that much more seriously.
 
I'm an RN, retired military, and have a CPL. I like to practice at the firing range regularly and I am comfortable around firearms.
Now as a medical professional, and ex military, I'm a stickler regarding safety. Also, when I fire a weapon, I clean it right away-maintaining a firearm is part of safety, making sure the weapon operates properly.
I know other RNs who own firearms. All of them have a higher degree of respect towards firearms regarding safety.
 
I was assigned to a district that covered major hospitals, I took a side job in the County ER, one of only 2 Level 1 Trauma Centers within 100 miles or so. It was BUSY, we often saw 450 patients on a 24hr census.. I worked two to three 8 hr shifts in the ER a week..Usually night shifts, I did this for about 6 years.. I formed many life long friendships there... I attended the funeral of one of those nurse buddies last Saturday (cancer)... he was definitely a gun guy...

My observations were pretty much along the lines posted, If the young doc's were from out of state, up north, as we call it... many of them were anti... However, the Texas bred, or those from surrounding states, or Ak, Colorado, Montana, N or S Dak.. they pretty much were 2nd amendment folks..

A few of the nurses owned and carried, especially after one was assaulted in the the parking garage.. After that incident, I was cornered by several of the doc's and nurses and asked about guns, and training..

A few of the Staff doc's were really into guns, they just didn't talk about it too much at work..

A note on Accidental Discharges and Glocks... yup,, about 80% of all AD's in our department are with Glocks.. but a bunch of our guys swear by them..
 
I am a Psychologist but was a hunter and gun owner first. With all the 'nuts' I work with, why would you think I carry a gun!!!!!
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Funny that you bring that up, I dated a psychologist that switched gears to work with troubled (read: felonious) youth. She was pretty hardcore anti-gun right up until she got her first threatening stalker.
 
Maybe I’m a little to paranoid, but medical questioning about firearms in the house (So I’ve heard) is starting out in medical schools. I understand that it is also a required input field for the government accessible computerized medical records required by obamacare. I DO know that it was a question on a recent medical evaluation questionnaire from my insurance carrier. It was also an issue in Florida in 2010 to the point that there was state legislation, at least proposed, to prohibit doctors from asking (No idea of the outcome.) A common consensus is that it is an end run around the prohibition on the access to BATF records by the hussain obama administration and his anti-gun Chicago cronnies.
 
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