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Monday, September 19, 2011

Kids And Guns: Why Doctors Have A Right To Know


A federal court has blocked a new Florida law that limited the ability of doctors to ask patients if they had guns in the home. Judge Monica Cooke, a Republican appointee, rightly said that the law interfered with both doctors' right to free speech and patients' right to receive information.


The ruling, which came down last week, struck an important blow for freedom of expression. But it did something more: it dealt a rare setback to a gun-rights lobby that is increasingly using its considerable political power to support policies that have little to do with the right to bear arms and needlessly put innocent people at risk.


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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

What do you think they will ask if Obama care goes forward?

Anonymous said...

It is none of my doctors business if there are guns in my home or not. I suspect most rural doctors would not ask such a question. This most likely is a city folks thing since they cannot protect themselves from themselves.

Anonymous said...

What I have in my house is NONE of their Business!Make as much sense as WalMart asking if 22Cal. bullets you are buying are for a handgun or Rifle I have a habit of telling them BOTH.

Anonymous said...

There is a solution to this dilema. Just say no!

Anonymous said...

My brother, sister and I were raised with guns in the house and from a very early age we were taught gun safety and that includes how to handle a gun when needed. If you hide a gun and tell a child do not touch, curiosity will win over so it is better to teach the child gun safety and how to handle a gun and keep it in a secure location until the child is ready. My parents could leave a gun in plain sight and we knew not to mess with it that it was not a toy. This is all common sense and it is not a doctors business. How many doctors do you know who are gun experts and can explain gun safety other than what they reading off a memo. I believe that its just a way for them to collect info for the government. IMHO

EW1(SG) said...

The judge "... rightly said that the law interfered with both doctors' right to free speech and patients' right to receive information."

Nope. I hire a doctor to do a job. In our employer-employee relationship, the doctor as my employee does not have any First Amendment right to inflict their political views on me. Nor am I interested in receiving "information" from an amateur in an area of my expertise.

Anonymous said...

If you live in public housing there is a little known law that forbids people living in federally subsidized housing to posess a firearm, talk about violating your 2nd. Amendment rights!