Led by FL League of Woman Voters, Coalition Calls for Spec Legislative Session on Gun Control
Posted June 21, 2016 06:15 am | Public News Service
TALLAHASSEE,
Fla. - While memorial services and funerals continue for
the 49 victims of last week's mass shooting in Orlando,
a coalition of groups believes now is the time to turn
grief into action.
The League of Women Voters of Florida hand-delivered a letter to Gov. Rick Scott, House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, and Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando. The letter, signed by dozens of advocacy groups, asks lawmakers to return to Tallahassee for a special session on gun control before the end of the month.
Read the letter here.
League president Pamela Goodman said she believes it's the only way to turn the tide on gun violence.
"We strongly believe," she said, "that an elevated discourse from the people of Florida to the only people that can actually change legislation -- our elected officials -- needs to happen now."
The
coalition wants the Legislature to make it a crime to
knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer or possess
a semiautomatic assault weapon or large-capacity
ammunition-feeding device. It also is asking the state
to implement universal background checks. Scott has said
he doesn't believe gun-control measures are the answer,
and blames radical Islam for the shooting rampage.
As a series of federal gun-safety measures hits Washington, D.C., this week, Goodman said Florida doesn't have to wait to implement what she called common-sense gun legislation.
"This would follow precedents already in seven states which ban assault weapons," she said, "and in addition it would allow Florida to join eight other states that already prohibit large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices that hold over 10 rounds."
Last week, two Florida Democratic state senators also called on the Republican-led Legislature to convene a special session on gun control, which Gardiner dismissed as political posturing.
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