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Editorial: Don't silence doctors on guns

 
Published July 30, 2015

Florida is awash in guns, a proliferation buoyed by state laws that put gun rights above nearly everything else. A decision this week by a federal appeals court provides fresh evidence of the state's misguided priorities. The court illogically upheld a state law that prohibits doctors from discussing gun ownership with patients, a clear violation of physicians' First Amendment rights. The decision puts the Second Amendment above the First Amendment, and it should not stand.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the controversial Firearm Owners' Privacy Act into law in June 2011. Four days later, doctors and medical advocacy groups such as the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate it, arguing that it violated physicians' First and 14th Amendment rights. The law, nicknamed Docs vs. Glocks, prohibits doctors from asking patients about gun ownership unless the inquiry is directly related to a medical condition or the safety of others. The law also forbids doctors from discriminating against or harassing gun owners. Physicians who violate the law are subject to disciplinary measures, including fines, restriction of their practice, and the suspension and revocation of their license.

In 2012, a federal district court ruled for the plaintiffs and prevented the law from being enforced. The state of Florida appealed, and for the second time, federal appeals courts have been on its side. In a 2-1 ruling this week, justices in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit rejected the plaintiffs' free-speech argument, saying the state's right to regulate certain professions extends to professional speech.

According to the majority opinion: "The basis for such restriction is the very reason that the entire class of speech gets diminished First Amendment protection. The state cannot effectively pursue its interest in regulating professions if it may not draw laws by reference to professional status."

The minority opinion correctly and too politely called the majority's reasoning "problematic."

"It diminishes the First Amendment protection afforded to professionals by permitting the state to silence professionals on whatever topic the state sees fit. That is not what the Constitution commands."

It is necessary for the government to regulate some professions to protect the public from harm and malpractice. But state law should not intrude on the sanctity of relationships between patients and their doctors. Physicians should feel free to inquire about all issues that could affect a patient's health and safety, including firearms.

The court's misguided view of the law kowtows to gun lobbyists and their supporters in the Legislature who are intent on making it easier to obtain, own and carry guns but conspicuously silent when tragedies involving firearms occur. Doctors should be an important first line of defense for gun safety, and asking patients about guns in their homes threatens no one's Second Amendment rights. Florida's ill-conceived law is little more than a gag order that disarms doctors and their patients of a powerful weapon — the right to question and freely share information. This week's decision by the appellate panel should be reversed.