Doctors Who Ask Patients Whether They Own Guns Would Face Up to $100,000 in Fines Under Proposed Law

By Nicole Danna Thu., Feb. 24 2011 at 1:54 PM

Being a doctor in Florida these days is risky business, and pill mill doctors aren't the only ones who should be worried about being on the wrong side of the law. A proposal being debated in Tallahassee would slap big-time fines on any doctor who asks a patient whether he owns a gun.

A state Senate committee gave the go-ahead Tuesday to Senate Bill No. 432, a National Rifle Association-backed bill that would bar Florida doctors from asking

their patients about gun ownership. The bill now needs approval by the gun-friendly, GOP-controlled Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott, an unabashed firearms advocate.

The proposed bill initially slammed offending physicians with a felony charge and up to $5 million in fines, but an amended version includes a three-tier fine system. Doctors found guilty of asking patients about guns would have to fork over $10,000 for a first offense, at least $25,000 for a second, and $100,000 for a third.

The bill stems in part from an incident in Ocala when a physician told a mother of three that he would no longer treat her children after she refused to answer whether she had a gun in her home.

Supporters say it's also needed as a reaction to American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines suggesting that doctors ask parents of children whether they've stored guns safely. And if there's one thing the NRA hates, it's a doctor-patient discussion about how to store guns safely.

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Tags:

Florida Legislature, guns, NRA, pill mill, Rick Scott

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Hal I. Tosis

I can't believe the the depths to which the anti-gun crowd are willing to sink. They just won't accept the fact that the founders of this nation foresaw the attacks against armed citizenry. One of the reasons we still have some freedom is that the various local and state governments, as well as the bloated and freedom-stealing federal government are aware they can't just throw the frog into boiling water. So they put the frog in room temperature water and gradually heat it. Wake up froggies.

Tomdoubts

no ones business if I own / carry/ etc or not....has no bearing on MEDICAL Issuesjust another Gun Grab Control proposed by Obimbo and his White House Clowns

R. D. M.

what happened to private doctors being able to ask and treat whom they want? free market?

lifelongyankfan

As I see it, there are three kinds of people who own guns in America -- good guys, bad guys and crazy people. Two of those three are definitely bad for society, and sometimes even the good guys turn bad or go crazy. Solution: Make guns much, much harder to get and own. End of story.

circeherbivora

Exactly what I was thinking...so the psychologist treating a guy with paranoid schizophrenia isn't allowed to make an adequate assessment of whether his patient is a threat to society or his own family? This is ridiculous....When are we going to have some common sense back in this debate? Registration, Licensing and Training- is it SO much to ask?

Guest

So what happens when someone is involuntarily detained under the Baker Act, because they threatened suicide by shooting themselves. A metal health professional will be penalized by asking whether the person even owns a gun. Wake up people, society is out of control. PS I'm a republican. and own many guns