Gun-law bills face hurdles in Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Concerned about mass shootings at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub and the Fort Lauderdale airport, some Republican lawmakers said they’d push to allow guns in more public places this year.

But three weeks into the legislative session, bills to permit guns on college campuses, at airport terminals and in government meetings have stalled.

One major reason why is Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, who has declared she wouldn’t support far-reaching gun bills earlier this month.

“I do not support having guns on campus. I do not support having guns in airports. I don’t support having guns in school zones. I don’t support those things,” she said.

Flores is a top lieutenant to Senate President

Joe Negron, making her a potential deciding vote on the Senate Justice Committee, a key hurdle that most gun bills must overcome.

Democrats and gun control activists give another reason for the lack of action on gun bills.

They say the Pulse and Fort Lauderdale shootings have broughtmore pressure on moderateRepublicans to oppose bills that ease gun laws. The June 12 nightclub shooting left 49 slain and scores wounded, while the Jan. 6 airport attack left five dead.

“The conversation around guns is changing in the Capitol, finally,” said Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando. “It’s no longer a one-sided conversation that’s totally dictated by the gun lobby and the NRA.”

But Sen. Greg Steube, RSarasota, says the shootings are evidence that Florida needs fewer gun-free zones. Bans on guns in public places create soft targets for mass shooters, he argues, places where a licensed gun owner could thwart a would-be attacker.

“There’s no reason to have gun-free zones in Florida unless every single person is going through ametal detector and there’s lawenforcement on the scene,” he said.

Steube originally filed onebill to expandgunrights but was forced to split it up to gain support. Although he chairs the Senate Justice Committee, the GOP only has a 5-4 edge over Democrats on the panel.

Steube has pledged to bring many of his bills forward for an up-or-down vote during the legislative session. His measures would allow concealed weapons-permit holders to openly carry firearms and to carry guns into local government meetings, legislative meetings, airport terminals and career centers.

The National Rifle Association isn’t giving up on the gun bills, either. Marion Hammer, longtime NRA lobbyist, said the campus and airport bills weren’t requested by theNRA, but the gun rights group supports them.

“Nothing’s dead until the hankie drops,” she said, referring to the ceremonial drop of the handkerchief by House and Senate sergeants that ends the session, scheduled forMay 5.

Hammer said she’s pushing two top priorities. One would expand the “Stand Your Ground” law to make it easier to claim self-defense in pre-trial hearings, which has already passed the Senate. The other is a bill to allow weapons permit holders to sue businesses that ban guns on their property if they are attacked on company grounds. That bill, though, hasn’t received a hearing in either chamber.

Some more narrowly focused gun bills have progressed in the Legislature this year.

Bills to allow gun owners to check their firearms in lockers when they enter courthouses and to carry guns on the grounds of private schools connected to religious institutions have been approvedby legislative panels. And Steube said he’s working with Flores to relax penalties for concealedcarry permit holders who inadvertently show their weapons.

Even those smaller measures are drawing criticism fromgun-control groups.

“These policies would put more guns in more places for no reason, including into our private K-12 schools and colleges, further putting our children and communities at risk,” said Michelle Gajda of the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action Now, a national gun control advocacy group.

Steube said it isn’t pressure fromgun control activists that is halting the more aggressive gun rights bills but heat from other detractors that makes it harder to gain consensus.

“When you have, say, a campus carry bill, it’s more than just the Moms Demand Action Now groups,” he said. “[It’s] college presidents, certain police chiefs and a different crowd of people that you have.”

Smith is glad to see gun rights billshave amore difficult time in the Legislature, even if his own bills pushing for gun control measures, such as a ban on assault weapons sales, have no chance in the GOP-dominated Legislature. But he’s not convinced the Pulse and airport massacres have led to a sea change among Republicans on gun issues.

“The politics around gun bills is very sensitive given everything that’s happened. But Iwould not rule out the possibility that maybe they just want to wait a year,” he said.

Hammer is pressing ahead with support for all gun rights measures, but she also knows it can take some time to get bills passed.

“Will they keep coming back? I guarantee you they’ll keep coming back,” she said. “They’ll keep coming back until they pass.”