A federal appellate court in Atlanta has scheduled oral arguments late this spring in a case over a Florida law barring doctors from asking their patients about gun ownership,
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit will hear oral arguments during the week of May 20, according to a lawyer representing a group of doctors that sued the state over the 2011 law.
A federal judge in Florida permanently blocked the National Rifle Association-backed law from going into effect last year, ruling that it unconstitutionally violates doctors right to freedom of speech.
Gov. Rick Scott appealed U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke’s ruling that rejected that state’s arguments that the law unfairly discriminates against gun owners.
President Obama recently issued an executive order clarifying that the federal health care law known as “Obamacare” does not prohibit doctors or health care providers from asking about guns.
