Can’t we get through a Legislative session these days without guns being on the agenda? Yes, that’s a rhetorical question.
Here’s a Tallahassee rule of thumb: If Marion Hammer is being quoted, the start of a Legislative session is near. Indeed, after five weeks of committee meetings, the 60-day legislative session begins March 3, and the Hammer bully pulpit is already operational.
Both the Senate and the House have proposals that would allow people with concealed firearms licenses to carry guns at state colleges and universities. However, there’s also a House bill that would outlaw homemade, residential shooting ranges, although it has no companion measure in the Senate. So it could be worse.
For the record, the university system–the Board of Governors, campus police chiefs and the 12 public universities–think more guns on campus is less than a good idea. The laws of unintended consequences have too many precedents. In fact, the university system said in a statement that it thinks it’s downright “contrary to the values we embrace and could create new challenges in our ability to provide a safe and secure learning environment.”
NRA lobbyist Hammer: “The plain truth is that campuses are not safe. They are gun-free zones where murderers, rapists, terrorists, crazies may commit crime without fear of being harmed by their victims.” So there.
The shooting-range bill that would prohibit target practice inside and outside one’s place of residence–imagine, needing to actually say that!–was filed by Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg. Its passage, alas, is likely a long shot in a Republican-controlled Legislature.
According to NRA icon Hammer, passing Rouson’s proposal “will have a negative impact on homeowners and gun owners by turning the responsible and safe discharge of a firearm into a crime.” You betcha.
And not that we need to be reminded, Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, is still pushing a bill to allow Floridians to carry concealed weapons without licenses during emergency evacuations and, oh yeah, Stand Your Ground is still standing.