We already know that Bob Buckhorn and Bill Foster, the mayors of Tampa and St. Petersburg respectively, are in parallel universes when it comes to baseball. Foster rarely doffs his municipal blinders, doesn’t recognize enlightened regional self-interest and generally gives parochialism a bad name. Buckhorn gets the regional synergy, but doesn’t want to run afoul of “tortious interference” and get sued. “I’m not going to be the boyfriend in the divorce,” he has memorably noted.
Frustrating, but stranger things have happened in the political arena than a public official going to the mattresses in the name of fiduciary responsibilities. However, we now find out that there is something else that separates them besides the best interest of the overall Tampa Bay market. Guns.
Buckhorn, who couldn’t convince Gov. Scott to push for a temporary, gun-free zone at the Republican Convention, recently acknowledged that he’s on board with President Obama’s proposals to ban assault weapons, limit high-capacity magazines, require background checks for virtually all gun sales and further limit armor-piercing bullets. He’s also a gun owner.
Foster is partly on board with the president’s proposals. But it’s the part that doesn’t ban assault weapons and high-cap magazines. His rationale is a familiar one, but it makes less sense than his Rays’ stadium stonewalling. “I’m not going to dictate what home defense mechanisms somebody in this country is allowed to have,” he said by way of explanation. This could have been Mayor LaPierre or Mayor Heston making the case.
The rhetorical approach is familiar sophistry: Use a verb such as “dictate” and who can argue with whatever comes next? In effect, “they’ve” already come for our bazookas and flame-throwers. Now they want are Bushmasters. Where will it end? Starter’s pistols? Nerf guns?
Say this for both Buckhorn and Foster. Neither is sound-bites challenged. But also say this. The ones on stadium roulette are couched in leverage and legal nuance. The ones on guns are steeped in far scarier scenarios.