Jacobs: Orange to vote on restoring some gun limits
Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs said the County Commission will vote May 8 not only to reinstate a three-day waiting period for gun purchases but also to institute universal background checks on firearms buyers.
An April 5 memo by Jacobs to commissioners instructed the county attorney to draft an ordinance reinstating the waiting period, which was repealed in 2011 after the state instituted harsh penalties on any local leaders considering firearm regulations.
On Tuesday, Orlando joined about a dozen cities statewide suing the state over the penalties, which include fines up to $5,000 on any elected official who violates the law and which allow the governor’s office to remove that person from office.
Jacobs said Wednesday the proposed county ordinance “takes it a step further” than the lawsuit, which the county also is considering joining. “For a county like us, which had something on the books before, we could put a waiting period back in and background checks back in,” she said. “We could sue or not sue, but we could put them back in the county code.”
The ordinance would be similar to one approved by Leon County in Tallahassee last week. Commissioners there said they believed a 1998 constitutional amendment allows counties to enact such waiting periods and background checks without violating the punitive law, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Progun groups threatened a lawsuit over the ordinance.
By including language on background checks, the Orange draft ordinance would address the “gun show loophole,” Jacobs said, in which state law does not require background checks for private citizens selling guns. Those licensed to carry concealed firearms and law enforcement officers would be exempt from the waiting period, the draft ordinance states.
County Attorney Jeff Newton said the draft ordinance is “virtually identical” to the original county amendment repealed in 2011, except for changing “handgun purchase” to “firearm purchase” and other minor changes.