As a gun owner, I see no problem with banning assault weapons

Elected officials in Florida have a history of working against citizen efforts to amend their constitution. We’ve sadly become accustomed to the various methods they use to sabotage Floridians’ grassroots efforts.

First they ignore their constituents’ calls for certain policies or funding which lead Floridians to explore the costly and time consuming effort to undertake a citizens’ initiative.

Then they make it more difficult to get initiatives on the ballot.

If the measure makes it to the ballot, they made it more difficult for it to pass by raising the threshold.

If the measure passes, they ignore it or repeal it. They drag their feet on implementing it.

And their new favorite tactic is to bastardize or weaken it beyond recognition — class size reduction and restoration of voting rights for ex-felons, for example.

To add insult to injury they shamefully use our tax dollars to battle our wishes by fighting us in court.

Usually the attacks come from the Legislature and the governor, but the latest attack is coming from the Florida attorney general, who took office in January of this year.

Moody is trying to prevent a citizens’ initiative to ban assault weapon sales from appearing on the ballot by asking the Florida Supreme Court to disqualify the proposed ballot measure.

Using taxpayer resources, Moody argued that the proposal is vague and misleading. Really? It’s pretty clear. The ballot summary reads: “Prohibits possession of assault weapons, defined as semiautomatic rifles and shotguns capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition at once, either in fixed or detachable magazine, or any other ammunition-feeding device. Possession of handguns is not prohibited. Exempts military and law enforcement personnel in their official duties. Exempts and requires registration of assault weapons lawfully possessed prior to this provision’s effective date. Creates criminal penalties for violations of this amendment.”

Moody was elected as a Republican, has an A rating from the NRA and has an extremely conservative state Supreme Court as a result of three recent court appointments.

Her challenge comes even though two of the worst mass shootings occurred in Florida using these types of weapons — The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were killed and 53 injured, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where 17 were killed and 17 injured.

It also comes on the same week three devastating mass shootings took place elsewhere in the country — at the the Gilroy Garlic Festival, at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and at a popular bar in Dayton, Ohio.

These shootings can happen anywhere and at anytime. More Americans fear for their lives and are calling for action.

In a June 2019 Quinnipiac poll — taken before the latest shootings — 59% of Floridians supported a ban on the sale of assault weapons with only 36% opposing one. Women overwhelmingly support the ban 72-24%.

Banning assault weapons won’t stop all mass shootings, but it will slow down the killer’s ability to fire off hundreds of rounds in a very short period of time. The shooter in Dayton killed 10 and injured 14 others in 32 seconds, despite law enforcement responding so quickly to take him down. 10 killed in 32 seconds!

Do we really expect our law enforcement officers who are first on the scene to rush in to face an active shooter armed with an assault weapon and high capacity magazines with their standard issue police pistols?

Isn’t their job dangerous enough without them being outgunned?

As a gun owner and a Second Amendment supporter, I see no problem with reasonable gun regulation. That’s why I’m proud to join student survivors of the Parkland shooting and parents of victims of both the Parkland and Pulse shootings on the Steering Committee for BAWN — Ban Assault Weapons Now.

Our mission is simple: to place an amendment on the 2020 ballot in Florida to do what our elected leaders refuse to do.

You can help our uphill battle of gathering 766,200 petitions. Go to BAWNfl.org to download and sign the petition and ask your friends to do the same, contribute to the grassroots effort and spread the word about our effort to make Florida safer by sharing information from BAWN’s FB and Twitter pages.

After Sandy Hook, Aurora, Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Pulse, Parkland, Pittsburgh, Charleston, Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, isn’t it time to get these militarystyle weapons off our streets?

Paula Dockery