FL: NRA pushing for a ban on adoption agencies from asking about gun ownership

[GreenStormCloud]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1317135.html


The NRA wants to stop adoption agencies from asking prospective parents about whether they own guns, saying the question is a violation of gun-owners' rights.

BY MARC CAPUTO
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

The National Rifle Association is pushing legislation to ban adoption agencies from asking potential parents if they have guns and ammunition in the home.

(Snip)

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.

The couple complained to a lawyer, who called Hammer. She said it would be easier to change the law rather than sue.

A spokeswoman for the Children's Home Society, Liz Bruner, said the agency asks about guns because it is required to by the Department of Children & Families.

...More at link...

[SteveM]

1. "Just asking..." Like, what is Dept. of Children & Familes going to do...

...when the answer is "yes"? Deny adoptions, give 'em a lecture, hold off until someone says "no"?

I would like to see the Department's justification for asking the question, and any research they are relying upon.

[AtheistCrusader]

11. They didn't deny mine.

Never are any laying around, so the home inspection went through fine.

[derby378]

2. I'm siding with the NRA on this one, but...

...I would like to see thorough screening of the potential parents' temperament, judgment, sobriety, even-handedness, and ability to react to stressful situations with understanding and patience.

Part of the problem is that Florida's child-welfare system is privatized, so it's difficult to maintain a uniform standard for the entire state. If the system can't be brought under a state umbrella, I would like to see the diverse agencies put their heads together and agree on a rigorous roster of minimum criteria for parental qualification, administrative practices, tracking and follow-up, etc.

Some prospective parents are hunters. Others may be competitive shooters. Still others may be military veterans. I don't want to see gun ownership by any of them considered as some sort of question mark on the adoption application form in terms of overall competence.

[armueller2001]

3. Well, if they're concerned about potential hazards

to the child, maybe they should ask the parents about their ownership of: swimming pools, poison, power tools, and other items that kill way more children than guns.

[TPaine7]

4. Yeah, that would make sense if safety were the real issue...

... and not ideology.

Welcome to DU.

[OttavaKarhu]

10. Ya forgot cars n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

12. They do.

They check all that stuff when they do the home inspection. I was all ready, childproof lockdown on the hot tub cover, for instance.

They didn't ask to see the gun safe. Basically they didn't use that data point at all.

[spin]

5. K&R (n/t)

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

6. That makes sense, after all you are 1 million times more likely to die of a gun shot...

if you are repeatedly shot in the head at close range than you are to drown in a swimming pool if you don't have a swimming pool.

[Hoopla Phil]

7. I have a problem with this. Why is the question being asked?

[spin]

8. A while back there were stories about doctors asking patients about firearms...

and if they owned them.

Never happened to me, where I live in rural northern Florida, it would be odd to find someone who doesn't have a firearm in his/her home.

[Hoopla Phil]

9. I've read about that and had a friend claim that they were asked

once by their pediatrician. They got up and walked out.

[Euromutt]

14. My kid's pediatrician asks, sort of

That is, the practice's intake form asks "if there are any firearms in the house, are they stored securely (e.g. locked or in a safe)?" Phrased that way, it's a fair enough question, I reckon; it leans towards urging safe storage, rather than urging not having guns. I mean, they ask about plugs in the power outlets and child-proofing cabinets containing household chemicals as well.

And if you don't want to answer the question, don't answer it.

[DonP]

15. Our daughter was asked

When she took our new Grandson in for his first check up earlier this year.

When they were putting together their file on the baby they asked her "Do you ever take the baby to any homes where there are firearms and leave them there?" She was stunned and wasn't sure why they asked but instead of making an issue of it with the only Pediatrition in their suburb, she just lied to him and said no.

I was infuriated at the invasion of privacy and irrelevance of the question and the propaganda value with young parents that are already afraid of doing anything wrong with a new baby. But it's her and her husband's choice. Her mother and I did explain why it was so upsetting to us and suggested that the next time she tell them to either mind their own business or ask the doctor about some of their choices in their private lives, as long as they want to know irrelevant details.

Our girls (and boys) grew up in a house with guns safely stored and when she was old enough, just like the other kids, she was taught gun safety and taken to the range. My WWII battle rifle collection is locked in her old walk in closet in the same room we have the crib in for when the baby stays over. I turned it into a safe storage room with a dead bolt on the closet.

[BrightKnight]

13. Gun ownership does not have anything to do with adoption. - n/t

[burrfoot]

16. I completely support this.

First, let me say that I am a gun owner and CCW holder. I also happen to be a case manager with a social services agency in Sarasota, FL; and I do home studies all the time for child placement.

I'm one of the people who asks that question. As AtheistCrusader mentioned, home studies are not denied when the owner has firearms; and the question is, in fact, asked along with questions about pools, storage of chemicals and household cleaners, fire alarms, etc.

I have approved several home studies on families with firearms. I need to see that they are locked up and not generally accessible to the child (i.e., locked cabinet or safe/vault; a gun with a trigger lock but left where the child could reach it is not ok).
Also, ammo needs to be locked up separately.
Can you store weapons safely in a different way than what we require? Sure. But why the hell not just be a little bit extra safe?

Again, the issue is that the firearms and ammunition be stored safely; it's not about whether you have them or not.