“It appears Florida won’t be legalizing open carry, airport carry and campus carry — at least not this year,” sunshinestate.com reports. “A slew of gun bills proposed during this year’s legislative session, all sponsored by Sen. Greg Steube, R-Sarasota, have once again ended up in the legislative graveyard and none of them will be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s final hearing Wednesday.” And there’s no doubt exactly who’s to blame . . .
Nearly all of the gun proposals were effectively killed off earlier this legislative session by Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, who took a stance against the measures by saying she wouldn’t support Steube’s gun bills.
“Throughout my personal, professional, and legislative career I have expressed concerns with the reduction of traditional gun-free zones,” Flores told Sunshine State News in March. “This is not something new nor should it be a surprise to those who follow the legislative process.”
Flores’ vote was critical to move the committee in the opposite direction away from Steube’s proposals — her “nay” vote would have been the swing with four Democrats to dash the freshman Sarasota senator’s legislative aspirations to the rocks.
As we reported when we named Ms. Flores TTAG’s Gun Zero of the Day, the Florida rep changed sides to pave the way for a run for Miami Mayor. No doubt gun owners in the Gunshine State will do whatever they can to thwart those ambitions, just as Flores has thwarted the aspirations of Americans seeking the restoration of their natural, civil and Constitutional right to keep and bear arms.
And where was the NRA in all this? We report, you deride:
Despite setbacks, NRA past president and lobbyist Marion Hammer says she will continue lobbying hot and heavy for gun bills — and says not to count her or gun rights activists out just yet.
“Years ago I saw a bill of ours passed at the last hour of session,” she told Sunshine State News on Monday. “With all the time we have left, why should I get upset that these bills aren’t on the agenda?”
Questioned about the possibility of an unsuccessful run to pass pro-gun bills, Hammer shrugged off the possibility, saying some bills take longer than others to pass. Concealed carry, for example, took seven years in the state legislature before finally being made a law.
“Anything can happen in the legislative process,” she said. “If it’s worth filing, it’s worth passing, if not now, then later. We do not quit. It ain’t over til it’s over.”
Yes well, it looks like it’s over for this year. Next time . . .
I doubt we’ll ever see them. With only 40 members of the senate, the urban centers and libtard strongholds yield not a few anti gun Republicans (all democrats are destroyers here). You could probably push constitutional carry through the House at any given time but the Senate won’t even look at LICENSED open carry.
Bitch.
She will get whats coming to her next election cycle.
No way is she going to be Mayor of Miami. Let alone ever heard from again……………….Politically.
Please tell me you know this is coming from higher up than Flores. Like the Police and Sherriff’s unions, University presidents, senate leadership, tourist industry and Scott himself, in no particular order. Flores is just the most convenient puppet. This stuff is scripted years ahead.
Also, these people and entities don’t care because there is no money to be made in passing these laws.
The police unions, and unions in general in Florida, don’t have much pull, thankfully. Right to work state and all that. Now they do have some influence, but it’s nowhere near the kind of power some states experience. But yes, anti gun RINOs are a HUGE problem here.
Should have wrote groups instead of unions. The Chiefs and Sheriffs themselves.
http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/nra-slams-florida-sheriffs-association-open-carry-bill
This is true.
And the Chamber of Commerce as well as any and every “Tourist” group because heaven forbid we scare off the sacred tourist dollars from the middle part of our State or our beaches.
Yup. The Mouse, CoC, and FRF say jump (or wave the checkbook) and the FL GOP will bark and jump like a Jack Russell wanting a good boy treat.
Look at the wailing and gnashing of teeth that happened when the “guns in cars” bill passed. The Mouse and Chamber of Commerece would have had you believe that it was the end of the world. No different here.
Yes. I suspect the Chamber of Commerce and the Mouse are the movers and shakers behind defeating these bills.
lol let’s come back to this in a couple years. She seems a perfect for Miami. She didn’t get to where she is by being politically stupid.
When it was advantageous to be ‘pro 2nd’ she was. Not it’s not.
One individual gets to decide the fate of bills. Now that doesn’t sound democratic no matter which side you’re on. As a Floridian and gun owner I don’t have issues with Florida gun laws and would rather the NRA help my fellow Americans in states bent on taking away rights completely. The NRA needs to do something about California, NJ, NY, Mass and so on. They are the ones needing extra attention to stop these anti constitutionalists in their tracks. If these states can ban rifles in common usage we are all screwed eventually. That is more important than open carry or daycare carry.
With SCOTUS full we need to clarify “common usage.” In my opinion any firearm in common usage with police should be legal for all law abiding citizens across America. As police aren’t military soldiers, but civilians in defense of other American civilians. Then by definition arms police use are acceptable defensive weapons. Americans rights don’t stop when you live in NY. The Constitution is for all Americans and the NRA should be making a good case at this moment to bring states not following the “common usage” definition to SCOTUS.
“In my opinion any firearm in common usage with police should be legal for all law abiding citizens across America.”
This.
The most common LE handgun is a Glock, and the most common patrol rifle is an AR-platform. A car shotgun is a pump-action.
I sure hope select-fire gets more and more common… 🙂
Flores was Bloomberg money well spent. So easy really. She’s not going anywhere boys, you’ll have to find a way around her.
She’s term-limited. This is her last cycle. This is one of the reasons she was chosen. But another one will be appointed by the powers-that-be to be the next dupe blocking Florida firearms freedom.
Don’t watch the puppet. Watch the puppeteer(s).
Sounds like some house cleaning needs to be done.
Florida RINOs who once again denied us our right of open carry this session will now be protested by licensed-to-carry citizens who will carry COC (Concealed Open Carry) style in public. Basically, we will be concealing our actual firearms, but we will not conceal the FACT we are armed.
This is a legal means of using our First Amendment Freedom of Speech Rights as the next best thing to Open Carry.
Read more about it here: https://pursuitofpatriotism.blogspot.com/2017/04/coc-concealed-open-carry-florida_25.html