Judge blocks Fla. law restricting doctor gun talk

[Scurrilous]

Source: Miami Herald

A federal judge in Miami has blocked enforcement of a first-in-the-nation Florida law restricting what physicians can say about guns to their patients.

<snip>

"A federal judge Wednesday blocked a Florida gun law that restricted doctors from asking patients about firearms.

Judge Marcia G. Cooke said doctors had a First Amendment right to ask about firearms, and she rapped the state’s lawyers for failing to provide more than anecdotal evidence to show the law was needed.

“The State has attempted to inveigle this Court to cast this matter as a Second Amendment case,” Cooke wrote. “Despite the State’s insistence that the right to “keep arms” is the primary constitutional right at issue in this litigation, a plain reading of the statute reveals that this law in no way affects such rights.”

Gov. Rick Scott, who signed the “Firearm Owners’ Privacy Act into law June 2nd vowed to appeal."




Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/14/2407344/judge-blocks-fla-law-restricting.html

[SoapBox]

1. Hey Gov. "Medicare FRAUD" Scott...I've got a prescription for you...

*finger*

Take TWO or THREE or TEN and DON'T call us! Ever.

[McCamy Taylor]

2. Doctors treating kids on Medicaid are REQUIRED to talk about gun safety.

There is a spot on the form for it. When a patient is an alcoholic or suicidal, it is standard medical practice to inquire about firearms.

States can not legislate health care, no matter how much the NRA pays them.

[Hoyt]

3. Bout time someone got sensible about this. Thanks for posting.

[tpsbmam]

4. First I've heard about this law and delighted it met with a sensible judge!

As a former medical professional, not to ask a suicidal patient or one who's made/making threats towards others about gun ownership/availability is not only stupid and irresponsible, it's malpractice. As a mandated reporter, I HAD to report threats to the person(s) who were threatened and the authorities. I could just hear me calling the cops (in the case of threat) and saying, "um, er, I dunno" in response to their questions about firearm ownership/availability. I could never be sure they were telling me the truth if they said no and I'd report they denied having a gun or access to a gun, not absolutely "no, no access."

As if I needed further proof Scott is a complete and total moron.

:banghead:

[buckrogers1965]

5. 1st amendment right.

Don't doctors have a first amendment right to ask their patients questions?

[No Elephants]

6. Arguably, anyway, a Ninth Amendment right as well. However, good luck with

getting this SCOTUS to rule against anything that appeals to the NRA.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Judge blocks Florida law gagging doctors' gun talk

Source: Reuters

Judge blocks Florida law gagging doctors' gun talk
Wed, Sep 14 2011

By Tom Brown

MIAMI | Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:03pm EDT

MIAMI (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Wednesday blocked a Florida law limiting what doctors can say about guns to their patients, saying it violated free speech protections under the Constitution.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke in Miami granted a preliminary injunction preventing the state and Governor Rick Scott, a Tea Party-backed Republican and former healthcare executive, from enforcing the so-called Firearm Owners' Privacy Act with immediate effect.

The controversial law took effect in June and was believed to be the first of its kind in the country. Florida has some of the most liberal firearms laws anywhere in the United States and vigorously protects private gun ownership.

With all but a few exceptions, the Florida law barred doctors from questioning their patients about guns in their homes or advising them about firearms safety.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/14/us-usa-guns-doctors-idUSTRE78D7W620110914

[LAGC]

8. There's nothing wrong with doctors warning parents about gun dangers.

As long as they warn them about the dangers of swimming pools and other much more likely potential hazards to kids' health.

Just so long as they don't refuse service if the parents do happen to own guns, which is what brought about this law in first place, doctors discriminating against gun-owning families...

[No Elephants]

9. What happened to small government?

And since when does gun ownership trump the First Amendment?

Deciding what doctors must say (warn about pools) violates the First Amendment as much as deciding what doctors must be silent about.

Good software, though.

[LAGC]

13. I just think its unprofessional and shows bias if doctors focus only on the guns.

Kids are far more likely to be injured or die from non-gun causes, so it just shows doctors' prejudice if they only ask about guns.

I don't think we need a law forcing the issue either way, but I certainly support boycotts and people raising awareness against doctors who go out of their way to only focus on the guns.

[MrModerate]

11. Refusing service on dubious moral grounds is unprofessional . . .

And should impact licensing, not only of doctors, but of pharmacists.

Just to mention one other profession.

With regard to warning patients about swimming pools, they probably do (the literature stands at my doctors' offices seem to have at least one pamphlet on every known human ailment or potential injury). BUT, if they want to talk about guns and not swimming pools (thinking that the hazards are not parallel, perhaps?) then the doctors have that right, too.

[MyrnaLoy]

10. Good!!

I knew this would be overturned soon!

[pam4water]

12. What was the point of the law? Did they want to block shrinks form taking guns

away from the mentally unstable? That is just weird even for Florida. o_O

[The Doctor.]

14. It just seemed to be targeting discrimination.

What's funny is how the law itself was actually more discriminatory than the supposed discrimination it dealt with.

I do think it's stupid for physicians to warn about certain dangers to the exclusion of other, more ubiquitous ones. There's no doubt that a doctor asking about guns but not pools, chemicals, power outlets, matches, and so many things that are much more responsible for child deaths is displaying an open bias. Such an individual is not practicing good ethics.

Thing is, the law targeted asking only about guns. It was essentially a biased attempt to attack a bias. I would leave it up to parents to determine whether their child's physician is asking about guns out of genuine concern, or out of bias to the exclusion of other threats. If the latter, time for a new doc.

[truthisfreedom]

15. Free speech is either free or it's not. Nobody gets to gag anybody in this country.

Seriously.