NRA may be losing sway in the ‘Gunshine State’
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Marion Hammer, the powerful NRA lobbyist, wasn’t happy to be standing in front of a group of state senators who were considering expanding background checks for gun sales.
“This bill is nothing less than gun control on steroids,” she proclaimed.
Then she issued a warning to anyone thinking of supporting it. “A vote for this bill is a vote for massive gun control,” she said.
The Senate panel led by Sen. Tom Lee, a longtime Republican lawmaker from the Tampa area, defied Hammer and moved the bill forward with a favorable recommendation.
Hammer has long sparked fear in Florida’s
Republican-controlled Legislature, but senators are no longer adhering to her every demand. A horrifying streak of violence in Florida and increased advocacy efforts are swaying some GOP legislators to break with the NRA.
The subtle shift was on display as the Florida Legislature kicked off its 60day session this week.
“We have children killing children,” Lee said. “The Legislature has to act. We have to do something to continue to try to move the ball forward on some common-sense gun safety in this state.”
Mass shootings have affected every part of the state. Gunmen have opened fire in an Orlando nightclub, a Parkland school, a Tallahassee yoga studio, a Pensacola naval air station, a Sebring bank and a Jacksonville video game tournament.
That doesn’t mean all of Florida’s Republican leaders are on board with the background check bill, a measure that gun control advocates consider to be modest and incomplete. Gov. Ron Desantis and House Speaker Jose Oliva have expressed concerns.
Yet, signs indicate the NRA’S grip on Florida lawmakers could be loosening. After the Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, the Legislature passed Florida’s first gun control laws in two decades over the NRA’S objections, raising the age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21 and imposing a statewide waiting period to purchase a long gun. (A three-day waiting period was already in place statewide for handgun purchases).
Red-clad members of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a group favoring new restrictions on guns, fill meeting rooms when gun bills are heard. Volunteers say they are making it clear to their elected officials they want action.
Gun control groups also are putting money into the process. Everytown for Gun Safety, a group largely financed by Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, contributed $500,000 to Senate President Bill Galvano’s political committee after the Parkland shooting.