Incumbent Republican State Representative Dana Young from Hillsborough County lost her race last night by 389 votes out of 207,057 cast. Her deficit included 3 non-votes from my household, one of which was our 18 year old son's, whom she disenfranchised by voting in favor of SB 7026. He turned 18 just two months after she took away his right to purchase a firearm. In his first time voting, he has seen that every vote counts - and now so has Dana Young.
I'm glad that Republicans will control not only the state legislature, but the governor's mansion as well - and I'm also glad my son - who is a good young man who has been raised to safely and respectfully handle firearms and has never done anything that would otherwise disqualify him from purchasing or owning a gun - was able to learn that the voting box is a powerful response to politicians like Dana Young.
Votes have consequences - as Dana Young discovered
He can own a gun. Give him one of yours. The dumb law prevents him from purchasing.
Oh, I'm fully aware of that - you'll see my post says "purchase," not "own." The problem is that, just 19 days after the Parkland shooting, in a purely political and kneejerk response, our legislature and governor decided to arbitrarily eliminate a right previously held by thousands of law abiding 18-20 year olds, without any debate, without any empirical evidence to support such a sweeping restriction, and without any "compelling interest" to justify it, other than political expediency and the optic of having "done something." The age of majority in Florida is 18, which comes with: the right to vote; the right to enter contracts; to sue and be sued; to obtain a driver's license without parental consent; the right to consent to medical treatment; to serve on a jury; and the right to marry without parental consent. At age 18, Floridians may also be charged and prosecuted as adults, and may serve in the military, where they may be issued a firearm and ordered to kill or be killed on behalf of the State (note: big "S".)
When I was 18, I was law-abiding, married, had a baby on the way, lived in my own apartment, which I paid for with my own money, and I paid taxes. Because of my income, we didn't live in the better part of town. Thousands of Floridians are in that same position - single mothers, for instance. If they don't have a local relative or friend that can "gift" them a firearm, then they have no legal means of defending themselves and their families.743.07 Rights, privileges, and obligations of persons 18 years of age or older.—
(1) The disability of nonage is hereby removed for all persons in this state who are 18 years of age or older, and they shall enjoy and suffer the rights, privileges, and obligations of all persons 21 years of age or older except as otherwise excluded by the State Constitution immediately preceding the effective date of this section and except as otherwise provided in the Beverage Law.
(2) This section shall not prohibit any court of competent jurisdiction from requiring support for a dependent person beyond the age of 18 years when such dependency is because of a mental or physical incapacity which began prior to such person reaching majority or if the person is dependent in fact, is between the ages of 18 and 19, and is still in high school, performing in good faith with a reasonable expectation of graduation before the age of 19.
(3) This section shall operate prospectively and not retrospectively, and shall not affect the rights and obligations existing prior to July 1, 1973.
I can't believe that, in the 19 days it took to draft, edit, revise, submit, and vote on SB 7026, not one legislator who voted in favor of it ever paused to consider the ramifications of that provision. If they didn't, then they're incompetent and have no right to serve in office. If they did, and voted "yes" anyway, then they're worse than incompetent - and have no right to serve in office.