NRA Agenda Sailing Through Legislature
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami.com) - The Florida House continued to focus on ancillary issues, compared to unemployment, jobs, and health care, Tuesday night by passing two measures supported by the National Rifle Association.
The first bill (HB 155) limits a doctor from asking a patient about gun ownership if it's not relevant to the patient's care and prevents the doctor from noting gun ownership in a patient's medical file unless the information is pertinent to the patient's safety or the safety of others.
The bill, which is not without a certain sense of irony for infringing on the doctor/patient privacy, was supported by Republicans who said that "a well-armed citizenry is necessary."
NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer watched the bill's progress on the House floor and said it's common for doctor's to ask about guns in a household, but had no concrete evidence of an exact number of how many people have complained about such questions being asked.
The second bill would prohibit cities and counties for enacting stricter gun laws than the state. It also would impose financial penalties and allow elected officials to be fired for violating the law.
The state Senate is expected to take up the same measures on Wednesday, along with another NRA-pushed bill that would allow gun owners to "open-carry" their guns in stores and other approved areas.
Store owners have fought the bill saying an open-carry law could scare off customers. An amendment to the bill was put in that would only allow guns to be "accidentally" shown at a store.
Combined, the bills represent the NRA's entire legislative agenda for the current session.
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