Physician “Gag Laws” and Gun Safety

Gun violence has become an epidemic in the United States. While mass shootings such as those in Newtown and Columbine receive most of the attention, firearm-related deaths in the home are a far more common event in the United States. Often the victims of these shootings are “innocent bystanders,” especially children. Physicians can and should play an important role in efforts to stem this epidemic—by advising their patients about the dangers posed by firearms in the home and counseling them about best safety practices. Unfortunately, in recent years many states have attempted to regulate such physician-patient conversations between physicians and their patients. These attempts by the states to curtail physicians’ ability to ask their patients about firearms in the home infringe a basic constitutional right to free speech protected by the First Amendment. Moreover, these state efforts are fraught with danger, not only because they place patients and their families at risk of serious injury or death, but also because they would set a precedent that could lead to restrictions on other essential conversations physicians must have with their patients about sensitive topics. It is a dangerous precedent if politicians and policymakers are able to outlaw lines of questioning that do not meet their own ideological standards. Since Florida passed the “physician gag law” in 2011, twelve other states have introduced similar legislation.... http://virtualmentor.ama-assn.org/2014/04/pfor2-1404.html Language: en