Orange County sheriff backs firearms shop bill
Calls plan requiring gun stores to lock up at night ‘common sense’
After more than 50 guns were stolen in a string of gun store and pawn shop burglaries in Orange County over the summer, Orange County Sheriff John Mina on Monday spoke in support of a bill that would require businesses in Florida to lock up their firearms at night.
At a news conference,
Mina called the legislation “common sense.”
“I think the average citizen out there expects and already thinks that our gun stores are supposed to be doing that,” he said.
Mina is partnering in proposing the new gun store legislation with Sen. Victor Torres, D-Kissimmee, and Rep. Joy GoffMarcil, D-Maitland. If it becomes law, businesses that sell firearms would have to secure them at night with a cable or steel rod or lock them in a safe.
Those that fail to do so will be hit with a $500 fine, Mina said.
The issue has been of growing concern in Central Florida, where four gun stores, including two in Orange County, were burglarized in July alone. Suspects hit Oak Ridge Gun Range on south Orange Avenue on July 17. A week later, more weapons were stolen from Godfather
Pawn on East Colonial Drive. On July 25, an AK-47 was stolen from a gun store in Seminole County.
Mina in an Orlando Sen
tinel column last week touted fewer gun thefts in states such as California and New Jersey, which have similar laws requiring businesses to lock up.
In 2018, a total of 335 guns were stolen from 29 businesses in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. where laws require store owners to secure weapons after hours,
Mina said.
During the same year, there were 256 weapons stolen in 25 burglaries in Florida, he said.
Those weapons typically end up being used in crimes, and make the lives of both citizens and law enforcement more dangerous, Mina said. Asking businesses to lock up after hours is “a no-brainer” Torres said, adding that he doesn’t expect many to take issue with the proposal.
“It’s a nonpartisan bill. It’s nothing that would take
away Second Amendment rights or anything like that,” Torres said.
Goff-Marcil likened the requirements to the steps citizens take to secure their personal belongings.
“It’s the same thing you would do if you were locking up your lawn furniture or your bike,” she said.
Mina criticized gun shop owners who say that added requirements are not practical or that purchasing safes is too expensive, saying he’s “not going to buy that.”
“The gun industry is a $20 billion industry in the United States, so I’m not going to buy that excuse and I guarantee our residents aren’t going to buy that excuse either,” Mina said.
He added, “if we can prevent one firearm from getting out on the streets, one firearm that was stolen from a store or burglary, which continues to happen in the state of Florida, that’s a win.”