Gun Owners of America Criticized Florida Republicans for Not Passing Pro-Gun Legislation
Jose Nino
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Gun Owners of America’s Florida State Director Luis Valdes has recently been calling out Florida elected officials for their inaction on pro-gun legislation.
State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo has previously indicated that she has no interest in passing a House bill that would lower the age to buy a firearm in the state from 21 to 18. She described it as a “non-starter, while efforts to repeal the state’s prohibition on open carry have been roadblocked in the House. All of this is occurring in a state with Republican supermajorities spitting fire.
“You have a Republican House Speaker state that he and his Republican colleagues don’t have an ‘appetite’ to debate and vote on open carry. You have a Republican Senate President state that repealing the under-21 purchase ban is a ‘non-starter’ Yet both have the nerve to campaign that they’re pro-gun,” Valdes declared.
Valdes and other pro-gun activists are also angry at DeSantis for failing to promote an open carry law which he said he would support back in 2023. The bill in question (HB 1619) was put forward at the start of the 2024 session by State Representative Mike Beltran but was immediately discarded by Republican leadership in January.
“GOA got him on record where he said he ‘absolutely’ supports open carry,” Valdes continued. “Well, actions speak louder than words and the governor’s inaction is deafening.”
Florida is a solidly red state but it is still captured by establishment Republican types. According to Guns & Ammo magazine’s best states for gun owners rankings, Florida is ranked in a mediocre 22nd place. So it still has work to do on improving its pro-gun policies. Republicans are far from reliable when it comes to passing pro-gun legislation.
Hence the need to constantly put pressure on them to do the right thing.
GOA is one of the few organizations to understand this.
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