Sun Sentinel: On public safety, Florida Republicans get an F

ICYMI: Sun Sentinel: On public safety, Florida Republicans get an F

Key Point: “Florida Republicans control the Governor’s Mansion, the Cabinet and both chambers of the Legislature — and they refuse to do anything to address gun violence. Instead, swayed by the money and machine of the gun lobby, they keep chip, chip, chipping away at the laws we have now. After each mass shooting in Florida, Republican leaders say the killing has to stop. But they’ve done nothing to stop it. Nothing.”

Sun Sentinel, 2/17/2018, On public safety, Florida Republicans get an F – Editorial

• “The day after the shooting, the state Senate was scheduled to vote on a proposal by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam to let people get concealed weapons permits before their background checks were completed. Given the optics, Putnam, a Republican candidate for governor who calls himself a “proud NRA sellout,” asked that the vote be delayed out of respect for the families of the dead.”
• “Before it was pulled Saturday, the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to hear a bill that would let teachers with concealed weapons permits bring their guns to school.” 
• “Not on the agenda in the Florida Legislature’s final three weeks is a Democratic senator’s bill (SB 196) to ban the sale of military-style weapons like the AR-15 semi-automatic rifle Nikolas Cruz used to massacre 17 people — and injure 15 — at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday.”
• “Not on the agenda is another Democrat’s bill (SB 1476) to lift the ban on creating a gun registry, which could help prevent and solve crimes by allowing authorities to trace a gun’s ownership.”
• “And not on the agenda is another Democrat’s bill (SB 218) to require loaded guns be stored with trigger locks when children are around.”
• “If you believe government exists to keep people safe, Florida Republicans deserve an F.”
• “Now, as the governor finishes up his eighth and final year, he says he’s getting to work on keeping people with mental illness from getting guns. Great. Let’s measure his success in November, when he’s expected to run for the U.S. Senate.”

“The only way to fix this problem is for fed-up citizens to become single-issue voters and change the leadership in Tallahassee.”