What Is The Gun Gag Law? Court Overturns Florida Measure Preventing Doctors From Asking About Gun Ownership

A federal appellate court Thursday struck down a Florida law that prohibits doctors from asking patients about firearms ownership, saying the so-called gun gag law violates doctors’ free speech rights.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in an en banc ruling in Miami, said the anti-harassment provision of the Firearm Owners Privacy Act is unconstitutional.

The judges, however, upheld the law’s anti-discrimination provision, which prevents a doctor from refusing to treat a patient who owns a gun.

U.S. Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan said in one of two majority opinions the provisions of the Second Amendment do not outweigh the protections provided in the First Amendment. He noted the law was passed in 2011 without any evidence patients were prevented from owning guns as a result of questioning by doctors.

The state had argued the First Amendment was not impacted by the law, saying any effect on free speech was incidental.

“Saying that restrictions on writing and speaking are merely incidental to speech is like saying that limitations on walking and running are merely incidental to ambulation,” Jordan wrote.

U.S. Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus called the harassment clause vague, saying it left doctors “guessing as to when their 'necessary' harassment crosses the line and becomes 'unnecessary' harassment — and wrong guesses will yield severe consequences.”

Thursday’s decision overturned the conclusions of a three-judge panel that earlier had ruled the law had a minimal effect on free speech rights.

The National Rifle Association, the Second Amendment Foundation and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida supported the law, which grew out of anecdotes about pediatricians asking parents about gun ownership.

The American Academy of Pediatrics applauded the decision.

“Pediatricians routinely counsel families about firearm safety just as they offer guidance on seat belt use, helmets and parental tobacco use to reduce the risk of injury to children where they live and play,” AAP President Fernando Stein said in a statement.

In support of overturning the gun gag law, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said in a blog posting last silencing doctors is wrong.

“Our children are being injured and killed by guns at alarming rates, and we can do more to prevent this outcome. But a crucial step in the prevention of accidental shootings is education, which family doctors are uniquely positioned to offer, given their knowledge of the medical costs of gun violence and their personal insight into a specific child or family’s history,” the Brady Center said.

The Brady Center estimates 48 children and teens are shot daily in the United States, with seven of the incidents fatal. So far this year, 460 children have been killed or injured by gun violence, the Gun Violence Archive indicates.