IT’S HAPPENING: Dem Mayor Gets Gun Group To Cancel Florida Gun Show

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Mar 2, 2018

An anticipated gun show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida this month has been cancelled amid pressure from a Democratic mayor.

Florida Gun Shows, the state’s largest gun show promoter, hyped a March 17-18 gun show in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. But that show has been cancelled.

“The mayor requested that we cancel it and we did,” Florida Gun Shows representative Morgan told Big League Politics, referring to Democratic Fort Lauderdale mayor Jack Seiler, who has been in office since 2009.

Seiler’s mayoral office confirmed that the gun show was cancelled due to Seiler’s request, which he spoke about at a City Commission meeting following the mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida high school last month.

Will Democratic politicians be able to cancel more gun shows as pro-gun groups face increasing pressure in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting?

Nevertheless, gun show activity has been strong since the shooting, particularly in Florida.

The New York Times reported on a record-breaking gun show in Tampa in late February:

“The lines stretched out the door this weekend at a gun show in Tampa, Fla., as thousands of potential buyers and the merely curious waited for their turn to browse booths stocked with the latest firearms, ammunition, customizable holsters and patriotic paraphernalia.

Inside, parents pushed their babies in strollers past T-shirts emblazoned with phrases like “I study triggernometry.” A nonprofit group in one booth was raffling off a rifle to raise money to battle child and animal abuse. On large signs by the entrance, the National Rifle Association was offering refunds on the $11 admission if shoppers signed up for a membership. Outside, Girl Scouts were selling cookies…

Several sellers said they were on track to double their normal sales for a weekend. “It’s sad to say, but whenever there’s a shooting, business only goes up because people are afraid of losing their right to own a certain weapon,” said Quaidman Woody, who was running a booth with his father, a sales representative for CrossHeirs. “So even if they don’t need another AR, they’ll buy another AR or pieces of it.'”