Adoption Agencies Can't Ask

The Parent Dish site published an article on a new law in Florida which would prevent adoption agencies from asking prospective adoptive parents about their gun ownership.

The adoption bill resulted from a mixup at the Children's Home Society in Central Florida, according to the newspaper. The nonprofit adoption agency, under the Department of Children and Families (DCF), was using an old form that asked about prospective parents' gun ownership. When the NRA brought it up to lawmakers, the DCF ordered all adoption agencies to avoid asking questions about firearms.

Marion Hammer, the NRA's Florida lobbyist, says that the adoption issue illustrates that government groups like adoption agencies could keep a list of firearm owners, which is prohibited in Florida. Hammer urged the gun list prohibition law to be written years ago, as well as a ban on law-enforcement agencies from keeping a list of gun purchases at pawn shops.

Hammer tells the newspaper her next step toward gun ownership freedom may be to stop pediatricians from asking children about guns in their home. She says some think this could end up in the child's file, which could end up in the hands of the health insurance company, who could pass it over to a homeowner insurance company, who could then deny the family coverage because they own a firearm.

If guns are so right and good and acceptable and not-to-be-feared, then why all the secrecy? Ostensibly, the gun rights folks insist on secrecy because of the danger of creating a database of gun owners. This must be avoided because a database could be used in a door-to-door confiscation of guns. Taken to its logical conclusion, this thinking is laughably paranoid.

The real reason for all the secrecy, I would guess, has more to do with the fact that they realize, but would be quite loathe to admit, that guns are not as good and acceptable and not-to-be-feared as they pretend.

What's your opinion? Is it right to prohibit adoption agencies from asking about gun ownership? Is it right to prohibit pediatricians from asking their patients? If guns are so good, wouldn't it be just as likely that the inquiring person would consider gun ownership a plus? Wouldn't the adoption agency and the pediatrician understand the best way to protect the children is if the parents are armed?

What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.