Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Fla. (Summary)

FLORIDA’S FIREARM OWNERS PRIVACY ACT

Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Fla.
No. 12-14009 (11th Cir. July 25, 2014)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a group of physicians and physician advocacy groups and vacated an injunction against enforcement of Florida’s Firearm Owners Privacy Act (the “Act”).

The plaintiffs challenged the Act, which, according to the court, “seeks to protect patients’ privacy by restricting irrelevant inquiry and record-keeping by physicians regarding firearms.” The plaintiffs contended that the Act imposed an unconstitutional restriction on their freedom of speech under the First Amendment. The Eleventh Circuit disagreed, concluding that “[t]he State may validly regulate the practice of medicine to protect patients’ privacy. Any speech that the Act reaches takes place entirely within the confines of the physician-patient relationship, where the ‘personal nexus between professional and client’ is strong, and so is entirely incidental to the Act’s regulation of physicians’ professional conduct.”

The opinion also included a sharply-worded dissent which described the Act as a “gag order” that violates the First Amendment rights of physicians. According to the dissent, “the record and common sense lead inexorably to the conclusion that children will suffer fewer firearm related injuries if they – and their parents – know more about firearm safety. But now [as a result of the Act] they will know less.”