A compromise has been reached on a bill intended to prevent physicians from asking patients about gun ownership and gun-related issues, such as storage of firearms in the home. Civil and criminal penalties have been removed from the bill, but physicians who appear to be asking “harassing” questions or putting unnecessary information about gun ownership in patient records may be reported to the Florida Board of Medicine. Additional information about the original bill and comments from the Florida Psychiatric Society are posted in Psychiatric News at http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/5/16.3.full. The bill is posted and can be tracked at www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/432.
