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Florida gun laws will come under scrutiny in 2018
2018 is here and the headlines is a New Jersey shooting, so expect more gun control talks and possible gun ownership legislation. Florida failed to execute any legislation as 2017 came to an end, leaving many asking ‘What’s next?” How do gun laws play out for the 2018 election cycle?
Former Senate Candidate summarized for
Sunshine State News: “So, for the second session in a row, we will not have any real legislation to protect our right to self-defense. Can we blame the Democrats? Not really. Republicans Garcia and Flores have shown they have no interest in protecting people’s rights of self-protection and the blame for the failure to pass gun-rights legislation sits squarely on their shoulders.”
This was in early December as Florida’s Senate Judiciary Committee rejected proposals that sought to allow Floridians with concealed-weapons licenses to carry firearms up to the entrances of courthouses (SB 134); inadvertently display handguns (SB 148); and pack heat at religious institutions that include private schools or day-care facilities (SB 274).
Committee Chairman Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican who sponsored two of the proposals, said after the meeting he has no intention of reviving some more-controversial measures from past years.
Sen. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, said he couldn’t support gun-related measures that fail to address mental-health issues.
“Garcia and Flores repeated their total disregard of gun rights and voted no to these bills to allow people the right to protect themselves though Garcia voted yes on SB 148 after voting no on SB 274 and SB 134,” Snitker pointed out.
“The real compromise we’re looking for is between two very different schools of thought,” Stargel said. “One is, having less guns in the community is going to create less crime and less violence. And the other school of thought is my school of thought, which is personal responsibility, which is I don’t want to designate to somebody else my responsibility to protect myself and my family.”
“We had Republicans who joined the Democrats as obstructionists last year, and bills would be (temporarily postponed), which was a type of protectionism for Republicans,”
National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer said. “This year, thankfully, they voted. They’ve been outed, and now we can report it.”
So headed into 2018, where does the “two schools of thought” take legislation and does the PR game shift as mid-term elections gain attention?