Gun rights v. gun control: Where do Florida lawmakers stand?
In the wake of massacres in Parkland, Orlando, Uvalde, Buffalo, Sandy Hook, and on and on, public pressure is building on Congress to enact laws to stem gun violence. Where do our U.S. Senators and Representatives from Florida stand?
'Our lives are on the ballot': March for Our Lives Parkland rally calls for gun law reform
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R)
“The NBA doesn’t like to talk about the billions they make from a China that enslaves Uyghur Muslims and harvests their organs. But they have no problem politicizing a horrific tragedy in America,” (Tweet on Miami Heat's urging fans to call their senators for gun reform.)
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U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R)
"We will oppose every attempt to deny our Second Amendment freedoms and will defend our gun rights always, at all costs."
After the Parkland high school massacre, then-Gov. Scott signed laws to raise the gun ownership age limit to 18 and to authorize officials to "red flag" individuals thought to be too dangerous to have guns. Will he support similar laws at the federal level? No word.
U.S. Rep. Gus M. Bilirakis (R-New Port Richey)
“There is simply no evidence that encroaching on the rights of law-abiding citizens would have any corresponding decrease in violent crime.”
Has supported legislation to loosen restrictions on interstate gun purchases and ease carrying of concealed weapons across state borders.
Vern Buchanan (R-Longboat Key)
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Joined with Democrats and a small group of Republicans to support universal background check legislation in 2019.
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Kat Cammack (R-Orange Park)
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"I will always uphold and defend our Second Amendment rights. As a concealed carry permit holder and the wife to a first responder, I am adamant about protecting this most basic American right." "Gun control, she adds, "empowers criminals."
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Kathy Castor (D-Tampa)
Helped lead colleagues in passing the Bipartisan Background Check Act. Supported the Enhanced Background Checks Act, to close the “Charleston loophole” after the South Carolina gunman in 2015 was able to purchase weapons after a 3-day federal background check ran out of time to turn up a prior conviction. She is cosponsoring bills to reinstate the ban on military-style assault weapons.
Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Miramar)
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"We need courage. We need action. This must change. #EndGunViolence."
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Charlie Crist (D-St. Petersburg)
(From Floridapolitics.com) "For once and for all, require background checks for private gun sales....We need to ban the sale of assault weapons and high capacity magazines for assault rifles and semi-automatic pistols. Is there any legitimate reason to have a 30-round magazine for recreational shooting or home defense? There’s not."
Val Demings (D-Orlando)
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(Former Orlando police chief and current candidate for U.S. Senate) Senate should consider background check law and "red flag" laws.
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Theodore "Ted" Deutch (D-Boca Raton)
“The Senate should pass the background check bill. Right now....And we should pass the EAGLES Act, a bill presented by Parkland parent Tony Montalto and his group Stand with Parkland.... And we should pass the Luke and Alex School Safety Act, a bill presented by Parkland parent Max Schachter and his group Safe Schools for Alex....And Jaime’s Law, presented by Parkland parent Fred Guttenberg in memory of his daughter. It will make it harder for dangerous people to acquire ammunition to carry out these acts."
Mario Diaz Balart (R-Doral)
Supported bipartisan gun safety legislation in 2021 to require federal authorities to alert state and local law enforcement within 24 hours when an ineligible individual lies on a background check and tries to purchase a firearm. Has voted for some background check bills but against others and supported conceal carry legislation.
Byron Donalds (R-Naples)
"The Second Amendment, your right to bears arms, is just as important as the rest of the Bill of Rights....I proudly stood against Republican leadership in the Florida Legislature when they infringed upon our rights as Americans and passed gun control into state law." He opposed universal background checks and legislation that would prohibit a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check.
Neal Dunn (R-2)
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"Instead of strengthening and enforcing existing laws, Speaker Pelosi’s Democrats are instead seeking to make criminals out of law-abiding gun owners." He says "every law-abiding American has the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms," and notes that the first bill he cosponsored was to ensure Florida concealed carry permits are honored in every other state that issues concealed carry permits.
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Lois Frankel (D-West Palm Beach)
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"Our children deserve to feel safe at school, not fear for their lives. We must do more to stop this unthinkable violence. We should also ban ghost guns. And pass red flag laws. And stop the sale of high-capacity magazines."
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Scott Franklin (R-Lakeland)
"As a gun owner and defender of the Constitution, I strongly believe in Americans’ right to own firearms. I will fight for, and defend, your Second Amendment rights as well as the entire Bill of Rights." He opposed Universal Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act, saying criminals would benefit from restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.
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Matt Gaetz (R-Dist. 1)
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"President Biden is committed to dismantling the Second Amendment like we have never seen before." — 2021 op-ed in Guns & Ammo. Gaetz opposes 'red flag' gun laws and was quoted by the Insider website as saying any Republican who supports red flag laws is a "traitor to the Constitution."
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Carlos Gimenez (R-Miami)
Gimenez voted yes on Background Check Expansion Act and Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which established background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties (i.e., unlicensed individuals).
Specifically, it prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check.
Alfred Lawson (D-5)
"My 0% voter rating with the NRA proves that I am serious about reforming gun laws to protect our families. That is why I opposed Florida’s Firearm Preemption Law and instead support allowing local officials to tailor gun laws to the needs of their community."
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Brian Mast (R-Port St. Lucie)
Opposed Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021, saying Democrats radically altered past background legislation he had supported, to restrict access to firearms. "The far-left has attempted to undermine the Second Amendment and intimidate law abiding gun owners out of exercising their Constitutional rights.
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Stephanie Murphy (D-Winter Park)
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Led effort to lift the effective ban on federally sponsored gun violence research in 2018 and later helped secure funding.
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Bill Posey (R-Rockledge)
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Voted against background checks in 2019 and 2021.
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John Rutherford (R-4)
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"The focus should not be on the guns; the focus should be on the individual that's pulling the trigger. And we need to find out who those people are." Supported Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, to easy carrying of permitted concealed weapons across state lines. Also supported law to strengthen interstate sharing of relevant criminal record information.
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Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Miami)
Voted for Background Check Expansion Act and Bipartisan Background Checks Act, which prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check.
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Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee)
Supports universal background checks for all gun purchases, keeping guns from those who are a danger to themselves or others; banning assault weapons, high capacity magazines and bump stocks; creating a “red-flag” system to issue gun restraining orders; No Fly, No Buy – banning guns for those on FBI terror watch list (with judicial review).
Greg Steube (R-Lake Placid)
Steube criticized President Joe Biden's recent comments urging tighter gun measures. "By banning certain magazines, you are effectively banning handguns that millions of Americans use every day to defend themselves and protect their families," he said. "Don't let them fool you that they're not attempting to take away your ability to purchase handguns. They are using the magazine ban to do it."
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Michael Waltz (R-6)
(First Green Beret to serve in Congress) From Newsmax interview:
"There are really deep societal issues that we have to address...and there's not some magic solution in Washington, D.C.... We need communities, families, municipalities, we need people to come together and really try to figure out what the heck is going on." He supported Florida program to have armed, mainly retired police and military on school campuses. He voted against Bipartisan Background Checks Act. He says 'gun-free zones' create soft targets for shooters.
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Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Sunrise)
We should start by closing all the background check loopholes that allow dangerous people to evade the law and purchase deadly firearms. It requires more than a gun to take an innocent life; it also takes bullets. We need to do everything we can to keep both out of the wrong hands. We must also push to get weapons of war off our streets. That means banning the sale of assault weapons and firearms with high capacity magazines. Finally, we need to give the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the authority and funding to study the gun violence epidemic as a public health crisis.
Daniel Webster (R-Leesburg)
"I will vigorously oppose any attempt by the Biden Administration...to subvert the plain language of the law and further infringe on law-abiding American’s Constitutional right to keep and bear arms." (In response to Biden executive actions on guns in 2021.) He co-sponsored the No Backdoor Gun Control Act, to prevent short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns from facing additional regulation under federal law.
Frederica S. Wilson (D-Hollywood)
Voted for the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and the Enhanced Background Checks Act, which she co-sponsored.
"These commonsense gun violence prevention measures will require background checks on all gun sales and close the Charleston Loophole that allowed the hate crime at Mother Emanuel AME Church in 2015."
Illustration by Hannah Lauritzen/USA Today Network; with photos by Getty Images, Associated Press and Austin-American Statesman.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Gun laws in Florida: Lawmakers on gun control, rights, gun violence
