Medpage Today ^ | May 9, 2011 | Emily P. Walker
Posted on Tuesday, May 10, 2011 2:07:18 AM by UniqueViews
The Florida state legislature has passed a bill that would make it illegal for pediatricians and other physicians to ask patients or their parents whether they have guns in their home.
Pediatricians often ask the question at initial well-child visits as a platform to discuss how to safely store guns in the home in order to prevent accidental shootings.
But under the law -- expected to be signed soon by Florida's governor -- doctors would face a $500 fine for inquiring about gun ownership and recording it in a patient's medical record. That fine would increase if a physician asked about guns at more than one visit.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), the main backer of the legislation, says questions about firearms don't belong in the doctor's office.
The association also charges that the American Academy of Pediatrics is pushing an anti-gun agenda and that such questions in a medical setting infringe on patients' Second Amendment rights.
"We take our children to pediatricians for medical care, not political judgement or to be harassed by people who have a different agenda other than medical care," she told MedPage Today."It's all politics," she said, adding that the AAP advocates banning guns.
(Excerpt) Read more at medpagetoday.com ...
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