Florida Lawmaker Introduces Gun Control Bills Guaranteed to Induce Eye Rolls

In the wake of any mass murder involving a firearm–what we colloquially call a “mass shooting”–it’s not unusual for lawmakers to rush a bunch of gun control bills out in response. Sometimes, these measures actually do look like a response to what happened. If the bad guy, for example, got his gun as part of a lawful private sale, then one might understand universal background check bills being introduced.

But all too often, the bills in question bear no resemblance to what happened.

For example, Maine introduced a 72-hour waiting period on gun purchases after Lewiston, even though the killer in that case had owned his guns for quite some time.

After the shooting, though, lawmakers will still try to capitalize on the mass murder to justify whatever it is they want, which is part of what a Florida lawmaker is doing with her recent proposals.

Sen. Tina Polsky on Wednesday filed a set of bills aimed at reducing gun violence.

Polsky, a Democrat representing parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, filed four bills, including “Jamie’s Law” (SB 256) and “The Responsible Gun Ownership Act” (SB 252).

Jaime’s Law, also known as the Sale or Transfer of Ammunition, named after 14-year-old Jamie Guttenberg, one of 17 people killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland. If enacted, the measure would apply to ammunition purchases the same strictures placed on those buying a gun. Democratic Rep. Dan Daley, who represents Parkland, is sponsoring the companion bill (HB 53).

SB 252 would require universal background checks for all gun purchases — including private sales — and increase safe storage standards. The measure would also make it illegal to make or possess firearms without serial numbers, a provision intended to crack down on so-called “ghost guns,” a term for homemade, 3D-printed firearms.

Now, let’s go back to SB 256 for a moment.

Jaime’s Law, she calls it, invoking Jaime Guttenberg’s name–a fact her father is probably cool with, to be fair–but let’s understand that this measure is about creating background checks for ammo and using the victim of a shooting to justify it. The problem is that the Parkland killer passed a background check to get his firearm. He would have passed an ammunition background check, too.

SB 252 doesn’t invoke any mass shootings or anything, it’s just typical anti-gun nonsense that’s being pushed and has actually done nothing to prevent criminals from getting guns. New York City, Chicago, Baltimore, and Oakland aren’t any safer despite all being in states that require universal background checks, just to name a small handful of examples.

Polsky also wants to ban so-called ghost guns in the state. However, as I pointed out earlier this week, unserialized firearms aren’t nearly the threat they’ve been made out to be. That’s not just an assumption, either, but involves actual numbers that show just how overstated the threat is.

Especially since there’s also no evidence showing that those caught with privately made firearms or who used them in crimes couldn’t have gotten a gun through some other illegal source.

What Polsky is doing is trying to push gun control onto the state of Florida and, in at least one instance, try to leverage the horror of Parkland to do it, even though the bill wouldn’t have done anything to stop that shooting.

Neither would any of the other measures she’s proposing.

Luckily, this is Florida. None of these are going to happen.