Lawmaker: Repeal gun control regulations

Plan would take away provisions created after Parkland massacre

Less than a year after the deadliest school shooting in Florida history, a state lawmaker has filed a bill that would repeal gun control regulations passed after the tragedy.

State Rep. Mike Hill, R-Pensacola, is pushing to remove provisions that raised the age to purchase a rifle from 18 to 21, created a three-day waiting period for long gun sales, and established riskprotection orders that made it easier for law enforcement to seize

guns from dangerous people.

“That disaster is not a function of the gun itself,” Hill said. “It’s a condition of the human heart that someone would have those desires to commit that heinous attack.”

Its chances of passing are slim. Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers supported the new regulations on guns after the Feb. 14 Parkland massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter Jaime was killed in the shooting, said he doesn’t anticipate efforts to change the law will succeed, but he will fight it.

“I am going to talk to others

to make sure it goes where it belongs, and that is the trash heap,” he said.

Guttenberg said the legislation has already saved lives. Deputies have removed 156 guns since the law took effect from people deemed to be a threat to themselves or others, according to the Broward Sheriff ’s Office.

Hill’s proposal is supported by Florida Gun Rights, which bills itself as a “no compromise guns-rights organization.”

“Any infringement is unacceptable to us," said D.J. Parten, the group’s director of legislative affairs. “We are committed to doing everything we can to repeal the gun control they passed.”

Other proposals have been floated that would expand where guns could be carried. The state commission investigating the Parkland shooting recommended that classroom teachers be allowed to carry guns if they undergo training. Under existing law, the vast majority of classroom teachers are barred from carrying guns at school. Another bill would allow guns to be carried on college campuses.

Hill gained notoriety during his campaign by calling for President Donald Trump’s Hollywood star to be moved to Pensacola where he thinks it would be safe from vandalism.

He announced his plan in front of the city’s Confederate monument. He’s also sponsored a bill that would protect Confederate statues on public property in Florida.