Tallahassee DemocratCommissioner Nicole "Nikki" Fried announced new leadership for the Division of Licensing. The Commissioner has tapped Stephen Hurm to serve as Director of the Division of Licensing and Jordan Anderson as Assistant Director.
"One of my top priorities is to adequately screen applicants for concealed weapons permits and correct the previous administration's serious failures in oversight," said Commissioner Fried. "This is a responsibility that prior deficiencies have proven belongs under the purview of law enforcement professionals. That's why I have appointed Stephen Hurm, a sworn law enforcement officer with over thirty years experience, to lead the Division of Licensing. Stephen's experience implementing successful risk management strategies makes him the careful, competent, and qualified leader the Division needs as we move forward to remedy the past failures."
Fried announced the appointment Wednesday afternoon on her new official Twitter page, @NikkiFriedFL.
Working directly with Deputy Commissioner Mary Barzee Flores, Hurm will oversee the Division of Licensing operations and work to implement updated procedures, safeguards, and streamlining of the permitting process.
"When someone applies for a concealed weapons permit in our state, we will ensure they receive the full and complete background check required by law anything less is a disservice to public safety and a failure to uphold our responsibility to the people of Florida. I'm appreciative of the opportunity to serve the state I love and to do my part to keep our communities safe," said Stephen Hurm.
...the NRA endorsed Fried's selection of Hurm to lead the program.
"This guy is a professional, part of a professional family with integrity," said Marion Hammer, the NRA's lobbyist in Tallahassee. "Regardless of how he feels on the issue, I believe he's professional enough to follow the law and the Constitution and not abuse any of those."
Yup, Gwen Graham is the guy's wife.... Gwen Graham, the Gubernatorial Candidate that stated she'd suspend the gun rights of Floridians by emergency proclamation.Former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham and her husband, Steve Hurm, attend an event Tuesday in Quincy honoring women in law enforcement.
Gwen Graham Twitter
And Marion Hammer backs this guy's selection. A husband to one of Florida's most anti-gun Democrats.
He's going to be working directly with Deputy Commissioner Mary Barzee Flores. An Anti-Gun Attorney from Miami that ran a failed Congressional Campaign and was backed by various gun control organizations.
He'll also be working with Fred Guttenberg.
A father of a Parkland victim and huge anti-gun zealot that is a member of Ban Assault Weapons NOW! and Americans for Gun Safety NOW!. Those happen to be the two groups pushing a 2020 Ballot Initiative to amend Florida's Constitution to outlaw semiautomatic long guns and magazines.
And again, Marion Hammer is fine with Stephen Hurm being the direct supervisor over Florida's CCW program.
FloridaPolitics.com
Additionally, the guy that will be working directly underneath him is Jordan Anderson, who had worked for Graham's 2014 campaign for Congress and most recently acted as the deputy field director for For Our Future, a left-leaning organization financed by progressive billionaire Tom Steyer. Anderson will serve as assistant director.Marion Hammer, a lobbyist with the National Rifle Association, appears to agree.
The NRA recently came out in support of keeping the program under Fried's purview, despite not being politically aligned with Fried.
Hammer called Hurm a "particularly good choice."
"The law governing the concealed weapons and firearms licensing law is very clear and it specifically denies the agency any regulatory authority so they have to adhere strictly to the law," Hammer wrote. "I would not expect any abusive of authority from [Hurm], nor do I think he would tolerate any."
But Marion Hammer has faith in Stephen Hurm.
This is just another example of why Marion Hammer has to go. She's pretty much useless in Florida at this point. She campaigned and said that she'll get GOP lawmakers to draft a bill to move the CCW program away from Nikki Fried (D) Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and have it placed under Jimmy Patronis (R), CFO of the Department of Financial Services.
That fizzled even though she says that the Legislature bows at her every whim. But since no bill has been drafted since no one cares about what she says. Marion Hammer now okay with CCWs staying at Dept. of Ag. and even is approving the guy being placed in charge of CCWs when he is from a very bad background regarding his associates.
Hammer is done. At this point she is discovering she has no political capital and no one in Tallahassee fears her anymore. She's going to be 80 years old.
I respect her for what she did in the 80s getting us Shall Issue CCWs. But this ain't then. The way things are done are different. It is an entirely new generation running the show. This is a game for the young, not those that could be Great Grandparents. The entire way to fight gun control is different.
