TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Two bills introduced by Republican state lawmakers in Florida would repeal gun control laws enacted following the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland.
The initiatives are anticipated to encounter some opposition in the state Senate, where the new president of the chamber has voiced opposition to certain gun rights proposals, despite the Legislature’s conservative supermajority.
In an unprecedented act of advocacy, survivors and family members of the victims flocked to the state capitol in 2018 after a shooter killed 17 people and injured 17 more at a suburban Broward County high school. They demanded action from the Republican-led legislature, which had previously rejected gun control measures but had nevertheless passed comprehensive legislation just weeks after the shooting.
Among these were the creation of the Ared Flag Law, which permits judges to confiscate firearms from those who endanger themselves or others, and a law that raised the purchasing age of rifles from 18 to 21. Gun rights activists have been trying to change those clauses ever since.
In a statement announcing a bill he is sponsoring that would allow the open carry of firearms and repeal the state’s flag law, Republican State Representative Joel Rudman said, “I look forward to our state once again earning the title of the Gunshine State, where citizens are no longer asked to trade God-given freedoms for a politician’s empty promise of security.”
Sen. Randy Fine, a Republican, submitted a bill to repeal the legislation that forbids individuals under 21 from purchasing firearms.
Since President-elect Donald Trump picked two Florida congressman to serve in his new cabinet, Rudman and Fine are both competing in crowded primaries for seats in the U.S. House.
In the years since Parkland, the Florida House has made progress on gun rights legislation, but state Senate leaders have blocked some of these initiatives. Ben Albritton, the recently sworn-in Senate President, told reporters last month that he opposes open carry and is dubious about repealing other laws enacted in the wake of the 2018 shooting.
Regarding open carry, Albritton stated, “I have always supported law enforcement and I stand with them today in opposition.”
___ Kate Payne is a member of the Statehouse News Initiative’s Report for America/Associated Press corps.A nonprofit national service initiative called Report for America places reporters in local newsrooms to explore topics that aren’t often covered.
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