It’s time to call a spade a spade: Governor Rick Scott’s seven-year record in Florida has made Floridians less safe and enabled future tragedies. Scott has consistently and irresponsibly loosened commonsense regulations on guns, and created new loopholes for evildoers to slip through. Worst of all, Scott has consistently opposed any action whatsoever to address violence even, even as three mass shootings have occurred in Florida in the last two years.
Take a look at Rick Scott’s irresponsible gun violence record:
2011: Rick Scott signed preemption legislation, prohibiting localities from regulating firearms and ammunition. Cities and counties were forced to allow guns in parks, hospitals, and government buildings as a result. [Tampa Bay Times, 8/19/11]
2011: Rick Scott signed a controversial “docs versus glocks” bills, which punished doctors who asked patients about gun ownership. Pediatricians feared the safety repercussions of the legislation.
2011: Rick Scott said he would sign a guns-on-campus bill if it reached his desk despite the fears of many about the dangers of the mixture of guns and alcohol on campuses.
2012: A Federal judge barred enforcement of the docs v. glocks law, saying it was based on anecdotal information and unfounded conjecture.
2012: Rick Scott cut the cost of a concealed weapons permit.
2013: Rick Scott said he would not be proposing any changes to state gun laws during the year, despite the Sandy Hook massacre just weeks earlier.
2013: Rick Scott opposed universal background checks for gun purchases: “It’s always easy to say do something when no one understands what it is.”
2014: Rick Scott signed House Bill 89, which intended to allow people to use threatened force, such as a warning shot, as part of the stand your ground defense.
2014: Rick Scott signed legislation allowing children to play with simulated weapons in school.
2015: Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 290, which allowed Floridians to carry a concealed weapon for 48 hours during a mandatory evacuation without a license.
2016: Rick Scott cut the cost of a concealed weapons permit — for a second time in his Administration.
2016: Rick Scott refused to talk about gun measures in the aftermath of the Pulse shooting: “There will be plenty of time to deal with how our society comes together.”
2016: Rick Scott refused to talk about gun measures in the aftermath of the Fort Meyers club shooting: “The Second Amendment Has Never Shot Anybody”
2017: 11th Circuit Court Of Appeals struck down the docs v. glocks law.
2017: Miami Judge ruled that the new changes to the Stand Your Ground Law were unconstitutional.
2017: Rick Scott refused to talk about gun measures in the aftermath of the Fort Lauderdale Airport shooting: “It’s not a time to be political” [Transcript – Rick Scott Press Conference, 1/6/17]
2017: Rick Scott cut the cost of a concealed weapons permit — for a third time in his Administration.
Published: Feb 15, 2018