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Commentary: Why Florida politicians fought a 6-year gun battle with doctors - one they knew they'd lose

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RoosGirl:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/os-docs-glocks-guns-florida-nra-scott-maxwell-20170616-story.html

Florida legislators spawn dumb ideas the way seahorses spawn babies — hundreds at a time.

But every once in a while, they give birth to a plan so genuinely senseless that, from the moment it’s hatched, we know it’s too stupid to survive.

Such was the case six years ago when Sanford Republican Jason Brodeur proposed a law that sought to imprison doctors who discussed gun safety with their patients.

It didn’t matter if the patient walked into a psychiatrist’s office with an AR-15 and said he was feeling particularly homicidal that day. If the doctor asked the patient what he planned to do with that gun, Brodeur wanted to imprison and fine the doctor … up to $5 million.

As a columnist, I often seek out expert legal opinions. In this case, I didn’t need to. I knew it was unconstitutional.

See, in America, you can’t imprison people for consensual conversations or free speech in general.

Maybe in Cuba or China. But not the U.S.

So on Jan. 16, 2011, I penned a column that said this bill had absolutely no chance of becoming law — that it was dangerous, nonsensical and blatantly unconstitutional.

But Florida legislators didn’t care. Egged on by the National Rifle Association, the politicians persisted.

They watered down the bill, reduced the fine and replaced the threat of prison with a threat of discipline from the state medical board.

But it was still unconstitutional. I knew it. Legal experts knew it. Judges from both parties repeatedly said so.

Continued at link.

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