Broward sheriff fighting DeSantis over guns

Sheriffs and police chiefs will surely be heard in the upcoming debate on further loosening Florida’s lax gun laws. That should be welcome news to South Florida’s many supporters of common-sense gun safety laws — but it isn’t.

The Florida Sheriffs Association and Florida Police Chiefs Association have long had too much influence at the state Capitol. That’s especially true of sheriffs, still chosen by voters in partisan elections under an anachronistic and dangerous system dating to the state’s earliest days. Sheriffs, not senators, are the most influential political figures in their communities. A uniformed Florida sheriff, service revolver at his hip, strolling the Senate Office Building in Tallahassee, always gets attention.

Both police groups solidly support Gov. Ron DeSantis, who assures supporters that he will sign a law before leaving office that allows people to carry a concealed weapon without any state-mandated licensing or safety training. It is known as permitless carry, and its advocates call it by the misleading buzzword constitutional carry.

“I can’t tell you exactly when, but I’m pretty confident that I will be able to sign constitutional carry into law in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in April at a televised press conference in the north Florida town of Williston. “Before I’m done as governor, we will have a signature on that bill.”

“Whoo-hoo!” a crowd of Levy County townsfolk cheered in response.

One sheriff who’s not part of this pro-gun cheering section is Broward County’s Gregory Tony. Appearing Friday at a public hearing of the county legislative delegation in Fort Lauderdale, Tony said: “I absolutely 100,000-plus-10-percent disagree with it.”

The sheriff knows his constituents in Florida’s largest Democratic county. Tony, who was appointed by DeSantis in 2019 and reelected in 2020, marked four years in office last week. In his remarks to lawmakers, he acknowledged that his stand on guns is not widely shared by fellow sheriffs or by their statewide lobbying association.

“We are very divided in this state once we pass Orlando. The dynamics change, the philosophical approach to politics and everything else,” Tony said. “So I would imagine we are not going to get every sheriff to support that,” meaning to oppose a further weakening of state gun laws. “I will represent us the best I can, and the interests of this community, and I won’t waver in my commitment to that.”

Tony is obviously doing right by the community that elected him. But if he goes to Tallahassee to personally lobby against permitless carry, his vocal opposition may only make the Legislature’s job easier. A Democratic sheriff from Florida’s most liberal county is a perfect foil for this pro-gun Legislature — even a sheriff appointed by a governor with high statewide popularity.

Republican politicians will be looking for examples to show how out of step Broward is with the rest of the state, and permitless carry may be Exhibit A.

Permitless carry, by the way, is distinct from open carry, in which gun owners can openly display weapons in public. But if permitless carry becomes law, open carry is a logical next step.

When Rep. Mike Gottlieb, D-Davie, noted that distinction to Tony, the sheriff defended the need to keep issuing gun licenses based on background checks. With the five-year mark since the Parkland school shooting a few weeks away, Tony said licensing is a way of flagging individuals who should not have access to firearms, even though those safeguards failed in the Parkland case.

“Let’s keep the checks and balances and expand on them,” Tony told lawmakers. “I don’t think we need to reduce our due diligence to safeguard this community.”

Lucy Rowles of Sunrise, representing Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, urged lawmakers to oppose any permitless carry gun law for Florida.

“Any attempt to enact this dangerous legislation is a step toward dismantling our state’s culture of responsible gun ownership and respect for the Second Amendment,” Rowles said.

(Broward County Sheriff Gregory) Tony, who was appointed by DeSantis in 2019 and reelected in 2020, marked four years in office this week. In his remarks to lawmakers, he acknowledged that his stand on guns is not widely shared by fellow sheriffs or by their statewide lobbying association.