US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of the State of Florida and Law-Abiding Gun Owners Over Activist Doctors and the Gun Control Lobby

RULING IS A SIGNIFICANT VICTORY FOR THE NRA

The United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has ruled that doctors do not have the right to ask patients if they own a firearm when unnecessary to a patient's care. This ruling is a significant defeat for the gun control lobby and its allies. The Florida chapters of the American Academies of Pediatrics and American College of Physicians, along with a number of other groups and individuals backed by the anti-gun community, filed this lawsuit against the State of Florida after Governor Rick Scott signed a bill backed by the National Rifle Association in 2011.

In the ruling, the three judge panel ruled: "In keeping with these traditional codes of conduct—which almost universally mandate respect for patient privacy—the Act simply acknowledges that the practice of good medicine does not require interrogation about irrelevant, private matters. As such, we find that the Act is a legitimate regulation of professional conduct. The Act simply codifies that good medical care does not require inquiry or record-keeping regarding firearms when unnecessary to a patient’s care."

NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action’s Executive Director Chris Cox welcomed the ruling remarking, “Every gun owner in Florida and across the country is grateful for this common sense ruling. It is not a physician's business whether his or her patient chooses to exercise their fundamental, individual right to own a firearm.”