What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.No legislator has been able to quite explain just why Florida needs a gun law (a felony with a $5 million fine) to gag physicians, even psychiatrists treating suicidal teenagers, from inquiring about firearms in the home. It’s not as if lawmakers suspected Florida doctors were compiling a secret gun registry (to feed UN invaders in black helicopters swooping down to seize Uncle Elbert’s deer rifle). No. The NRA, bored, wants to measure the far parameters of its unassailable political power.
Another inexplicable gun bill percolating through the 2011 legislative session (and endorsed by Gov. Rick Scott) would allow Florida gun slingers to tote firearms openly, in holsters. One might wonder why a state beholden to tourists, many from nations where vigilante justice is not a celebrated ideal, would want such infamy splashed across newspapers in London or Paris or Madrid or Berlin.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Uncommon Sense in Florida
Expanding Florida gun rights, whether they make sense or not.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
We shouldn't be forcing doctors NOT to ask about firearms any more than we should require them to. It's a personal or professional choice how a doctor speaks to his patients about firearms, not a legal one.
ReplyDeleteNow for allowing open carry, there is no good reason I can think of why it should be prohibited in the first place. The right to keep and bear arms includes openly carrying a firearm safely and responsibly.
...Orygunner...
I have no problem with doctors asking that question. I would have a problem if they followed a yes answer with a bunch of Kellermann studies because I would expect my doctor to be smart and unbias.
ReplyDeleteA pediatrician who asks new parents about guns in the house is a good thing. Casual gunowners may have forgotten about granddad's shotgun that is in the basement somewhere. They should also ask about swimming pools and how they store houshold cleaners. It is time to baby proof the house.
It's a ridiculous bill. Emergency room doctors need to be able to ask this question to help deal with injuries. Pediatricians need to ask the question to help safeguard the safety of children. Psychologists and psychiatrists need to ask in order to help safeguard their patients who may be potentially suicidal or homicidal. Any idiot can see the necessity. And, of course, those who are questioned are currently allowed not to answer.
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is just another reach of the long arm of the NRA, who isn't the least bit interested in preventing gun violence.
Thanks Orygunner and TS for admitting the doctor-gag-order is wrong. But, why is it even being proposed? What's your take on that?
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I can imagine it's being proposed for is to try and protect patient's rights of privacy, but it's a wrong way to go about it.
ReplyDeleteOne article seemed to list some good reasons why:
http://www.news-press.com/article/20110116/NEWS01/110115043/Florida-bill-would-bar-doctors-from-gun-questions
The problem here is that people that really want to keep their right to privacy are of course free to refuse to answer the damn question.
There WAS a recent article I saw where a physician asked a family if they had firearms as part of a regular child wellness check questionnaire. The parents refused to answer that question and the doctor then dropped their child as a patient and told them to go find another doctor. Again, though, that's what a free market is for, if you don't like a service provider, you're welcome to go choose another, and even share your poor experiences far and wide.
...Orygunner...