Warning: Constant ABSPATH already defined in /home/flanews/public_html/wp-config.php on line 37
Capitol News Service » Blog Archive » Docs vs. Glocks Battle Continues

Welcome to

Capitol News Service

Florida's Best Political Coverage on Television

Docs vs. Glocks Battle Continues

July 30th, 2015 by flanews

Should a trip to the doctor for a checkup include a question about whether or not you own a gun? As Matt Galka tells us, Florida can start enforcing a ban on those questions shortly.

Pediatrician Louis St. Petery says the first funeral he attended in Tallahassee was for a child who shot himself by accident with a parent’s hand gun.

 

“That was a shocking thing for us at that point in time, for my wife and me, and one of the reasons that I’m pretty passionate about the fact this needs to be done correctly,” he said.

St. Petery and the American Academy of Pediatrics have been fighting against a law for the past four years that would prevent Doctors from asking patients about gun ownership.

The “Docs vs. Glocks” law pits the first amendment against the second amendment.  An appeals court lifted the injunction on the law earlier this week.

 

National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer says questioning patients about guns is outside of the scope of a doctor’s work.

“When you take a child to a pediatrician for medical care, you’re not taking them there to have a doctor talk to you about their political agendas with regard to firearms,” she said.

Opponents of the law argue it’s no different than talking to parents about poison control. The American Civil Liberties Union bashed the court’s decision.

“This is a free speech restriction, but it’s a free speech restriction that also could be very, very dangerous for the children of the state of Florida,” said Executive Director Howard Simon.

The law could take effect in about a month pending any further appeals. Groups challenging the law say doctors can still ask about gun ownership as they continue to go through the appeals process.

Posted in State News | Comments Off on Docs vs. Glocks Battle Continues

Comments are closed.

copyright © 2016 by Capitol News Service | Powered by Wordpress | Hosted by LyonsHost.com