NRA backs adoption bill scheduled for final vote

TALLAHASSEE - It looks like gun ownership soon will be a non-factor in determining a person's suitability to adopt a child.

A bill that prohibits adoption agencies from asking prospective parents about guns in their homes is moving quickly through the Legislature. Passage is likely Thursday.

Parents would be required, however, to acknowledge that they received a copy of state law concerning safe storage of firearms.

The bill is supported by the National Rifle Association. It has earned favorable committee votes from Republicans and Democrats.

NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer says a major adoption placement agency had been asking illegal and inappropriate questions about gun ownership. It has stopped doing so, but Hammer says, "We want them to stay stopped."