The full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will take up a challenge to a controversial 2011 Florida law that restricts doctors from asking questions and recording information about patients' gun ownership.
The Atlanta-based court issued an order Wednesday saying a majority of its judges voted in favor of hearing the case "en banc" --- meaning as a full court.
Opponents of the 2011 law asked for such a hearing after a three-judge panel of the court upheld the law in 2-1 decision in December. The panel also had upheld the law in two earlier rulings.
The law, which became known as the "docs v. glocks" law, includes a series of restrictions on doctors and other health providers. As an example, it seeks to prevent physicians from entering information about gun ownership into medical records if the physicians know the information is not "relevant" to patients' medical care or safety or to the safety of other people.
The law was backed in the Legislature by Second Amendment advocates such as the National Rifle Association but faced heavy opposition from physicians.
The December ruling by the three-judge panel said the law "seeks to protect patient privacy by restricting irrelevant inquiry and record-keeping by physicians on the sensitive issue of firearm ownership and by prohibiting harassment and discrimination on the basis of firearm ownership."
But opponents argue, in part, that the law violates First Amendment rights.
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