LAKE WORTH SEEKS TO BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS

LAKE WORTH — “Persistence pays off.”

Those were the three words Lake Worth Commissioner Herman Robinson said at Tuesday’s meeting, and about 40 minutes before the city unanimously drafted a resolution to ban assault weapons in the city.

“Guns have become a religion,” Robinson said. “We need to talk about it, and it’s become a controlling factor in every thing we do.”

The resolution passed 4-0, with Mayor Pam Triolo absent.

The resolution Lake Worth passed advocates for common-sense policies to keep guns out of dangerous hands while respecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners. It also advocates for changes by lawmakers on the federal and state levels to significantly improve the processes for background checks.

But the resolution is just that: a resolution. Florida cities are openly challenging the state and questioning a 2011 law, signed by Gov. Rick Scott, that prohibits cities from enacting local gun laws. Elected officials risk a fine and removal from office if they enact gun legislation.

Commissioner Omari Hardy said the Legislature has neutered every local government in the state of Florida with draconian tactics.

“We can’t do anything, but we can speak with these res- olutions,” he said.

The move was in response to the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people with an AR-15 assault rifle he legally bought about a year ago.

Other cities have recently stressed the issue:

■ In Royal Palm Beach, the village council recently passed a resolution calling for lawmakers to enact stricter gun measures.

■ Delray Beach and Boynton Beach called for outright bans on “military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines,” like the ones used in the Parkland shooting that killed 14 children and three adults.

■ West Palm Beach and Boca Raton passed more watered-down resolutions. West Palm wants to keep military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines away from s chools and restrict the sale of assault weapons. Boca wants to enact “reasonable gun legislation,” the resolution reads.

■ In Boca Raton, the city is joining other state cities that plan to sue Florida over the law.

It took Lake Worth some time, however, to pass the resolution. Robinson was the only commissioner asking for something to be done.

“Silence is not a good means of communication,” he said.

Although it passed unanimously, Commissioner Scott Maxwell said he was uncomfortable being put into a voting position. “Why would we bring this to the dais ... that will possibly disenfranchise some of our constituency?” he asked. “We’re speaking for all 38,000 people in our community, and we’re taking a real bold step in doing that.”

Maxwell said the issue is federal.

“Weapons do not get up out of the closet or off the desk and kill people,” he said. “The issue isn’t the gun, it’s how we deal with society and how society behaves. This is dangerous, dangerous stuff to do. We’re running a risk by lumping all 38,000 residents and saying this is what we stand for.”

Robinson said how the city’s local gun shows are run is an embarrassment to him.

“I know we can’t regulate the market because of home rule,” he said. “But they raffle off assault weapons. It smacks of more guns that are not going to do society any good.”

Hardy said that’s the problem since nothing illegal is happening.

“If you’re selling guns to people, and you’re not ensuring that these people are not criminals or are not mentally unfit or stable, and that’s OK, then that’s a problem,” he said. “We’re passing this resolution because we can’t do more ... and that’s not OK.”