Senate President Bill Galvano (R), the man who crafted the Post Parkland Gun Control Bill SB 7026 that former Governor Rick Scott signed into law after it passed the House and Senate via Supermajority GOP Support has directed Sen. Tom Lee (R) to lead a Senate Workshop this week. Sen. Lee is the chair for the Senate Committee on Infrastructure and Security. That committee is five Republicans to three Democrats. But that doesn't matter.
What does matter is the fact that Sen. Pres. Galvano has directed Sen. Lee to chair this workshop and it is specifically to address “mass attacks and targeted violence.” The Legislators on the panel will examine ways to improve the information flow between U.S. Department of Justice and Florida Department of Law Enforcement, mental health options, gun laws, threat assessment and racial terrorism.
Sen. Lee was one of the few Republicans that did vote against SB 7026 back in May 2018 thankfully. So I hope he will run this workshop as a dog and pony show to appease Galvano and nothing more. But Sen. Pres. Galvano is not to be trusted. Sen. Lee told the Tampa Bay Times that when SB 7026 was crafted and passed.
Rep. James Grant (R) has confirmed that the seal is broken on Republicans going after 2nd Amendment Rights.“It definitely broke the seal.”
My fear is that other Republicans wanting to stay in office will bend knee and kowtow to the masses and restrict our rights.“Populism is a plague on the republic,” said state Rep. James Grant, a Tampa Republican who leads the House subcommittee on Criminal Justice. “We have to be responsive to our constituents, we have to be listening to them, but this era of populism ... it sets up a tragic pathway forward.
There comes a time in our society that public opinion consolidates so much around an issue that a representative democracy can no longer represent in denial,” Lee said. “It will move or it will get replaced.”
The Senate Workshop is scheduled to start at 1pm eastern and will be broadcasted. At 1pm, they post the live link on the Committee' webpage.
Scheduled to speak is FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen and Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight. I can tell you this. FDLE as an agency is no friend to the 2nd Amendment and Sheriff Knight is especially no friend of ours. Sheriff Knight is speaking for the entire Florida Sheriff's Association and that organization has always been anti-gun.
Sheriff Knight is just like Pinellas County Sheriff Gualtieri and is against Floridians carrying (whether they're open or concealed) firearms. He's also not running again and this will be his last term. So he isn't beholden to the voters and I think he's going to go full bore Anti-Gun.
Additionally, currently four bills have been submitted in the Senate that are in no way pro 2nd Amendment.
SB 266 makes it to where a firearm must be locked in a safe or have a trigger lock on it when it is in the home. If this becomes law, you can't keep a gun at the ready in your home for personal protection.
SB 134 repeals State Preemption and allows Political Subdivisions and Municipalities to pass their own gun control ordinances. Basically a city or county can pass an assault weapons ban or a magazine ban. They can also regulate gun ranges and gun shops out of existence.
The following two bills piggyback off each other. They push UBC and end Private Sales. Also they restrict the "temporary" transfer of firearms to other parties even if they're family. If a firearm is to be transferred, a background must be done and a 4473 must be completed at a FFL.
SB 94 ends private sales in the state and mandates that all transfers must go through a dealer. Also it mandates universal background checks. You can't even loan a family member a gun for more than 14 days. So that means if you're in the military or away from your home because of work. You can't have someone store your guns for you.
SB 270 repeals the provisions that a dealer must release a firearm to a buyer after three business days if there is a delay in the background. Right now, if FDLE doesn't contact the dealer within three business days. The firearm can be released. This bill makes it to wear if FDLE never gives a confirmation, the gun can never be released. Also this bill limits the loaning of a firearm to family for 10 days.
Here are the bills introduced in the House of Representatives.
HB 117 makes it to where a person must have had a mental health evaluation conducted by a clinical psychologist or a psychiatrist before they can qualify for a CCW Permit. This is not cheap and brings up a question on what makes a person "rational" for a CCW permit. Mental Health is always about one's opinion over another and is never openly based on fact. It is all about "feeling".
HB 6001 repealed the provisions that allows someone with a CCW to carry a taser or stun gun on a COllege or University Campus. The carrying of a firearm is already forbidden. So this would further disarm people.
HB 6009 is just like SB 134. It repeals State Preemption and allows Political Subdivisions and Municipalities to pass their own gun control ordinances. Basically a city or county can pass an assault weapons ban or a magazine ban. They can also regulate gun ranges and gun shops out of existence.
The only pro gun bill is HB 6003.
It repeals the Gun Control passed in 2018 after Parkland. It basically guts SB 7026. No more Red Flag Orders, restores the rights of any Floridian under the age of 21 to buy a long gun, and repeals the Bump Stock Ban (even though on a Federal Level Bump Stocks are banned, Binary Triggers aren't. Which in FL they are due to SB 7026).
