HB 155 to be Challenged In U.S. District Court

The ACLU has and children groups have filed an amicus brief against the docs v glocks legislation signed by Gov. Rick Scott. Doctors would not be allowed to ask patients if they have guns in their homes. The Republican reasoning for HB 155 was rather unsound.

Owning guns is a fundamental right," said Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Palatka. "It's not to be infringed upon by your doctor."

I have never heard of a doctors forcibly taking a gun away from a patient's home. Van Zant believes it is against the Second amendment for a doctor to even ask if a patient has a gun. This is a violation of the doctor's First amendment rights. If Republican in the Florida legislature actually understood the Constitution and wanted to protect the privacy of gun owners they could write legislation saying patients were not legally bound to tell doctors if they owned a gun.

A doctor could face disciplinary action if he or she asks a patient if a gun is within a reach of a child. The question may make a patient uncomfortable. What the question doesn't do is take away guns from a Floridian. The legislation is restricting speech and does nothing to protect gun rights. Furthermore, doctors do not keep records of which patients own guns. The Florida legislature is making laws against gun record keeping that does not exist. Once again the Florida legislature passes a horrible bill.