Report on Rounds 22, 23, & 24 Stop Government Violations and Privacy Violations and Support Concealed Weapons Reform in Florida

DATE:       April 15, 2011
TO:            USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM:      Marion P. Hammer
                  USF Executive Director
                  NRA Past President

Be sure to read the special message at the end of this report

REPORT ON  ROUND 22 **  SB-432 STOP Doctors Violating Patient's Gun Privacy Rights

Senate Bill 432, introduced by state Senator Greg Evers (R-2),was heard Senate Budget Committee on April 14 and PASSED by a 13 to 4 vote.

SB 432 would stop anti-gun doctors from asking children and parents if they own guns and then telling them to get rid of their guns.  It further stops doctors from denying care to children if the parents refuse to answer questions about gun ownership.

REPUBLICANS VOTING FOR THE BILL:
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]

DEMOCRATS VOTING FOR THE BILL:
[email protected],
[email protected],

DEMOCRATS VOTING AGAINST THE BILL:
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],

NOT VOTING  (All Republicans)
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],

REPORT ON  ROUND 23 **  SB-402 Stop Local Governments from Violating Gun Rights

Senate Bill 402, introduced by state Senator Joe Negron (R-28), was heard in the Senate Rules Committee on April 15 and PASSED by a 9 to 2 vote.

SB 402 would simply provide penalties for government officials, local governments and agencies that willfully and knowingly violate the state firearms preemption law.  State law prohibits local governments and government agencies from adopting any gun control ordinances or regulations.  There are some who are arrogantly violating the law because there are no penalties currently in the law.
 
REPUBLICANS VOTING FOR THE BILL:
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]

VOTING AGAINST THE BILL:
margolis.gwen@[email protected],
[email protected],

NOT VOTING:
[email protected],
[email protected],

REPORT ON  ROUND 24 **  SB-234  Restore Rights to Concealed Weapons License Holders

Includes Concealed Weapons License Open-Carry, Campus-Carry, Guns-In-Vehicles and Purchase of Long Guns in other states

Senate Bill 234, introduced by Senator Greg Evers (R-2), was heard in the Senate Rules Committee on April 15 and PASSED by a 8 to 4 vote.

SB 234 would make two changes to the “Right-to-Carry” law -- also known as the Concealed Weapons Licensing law and it would also conform Florida’s firearms purchase law with federal law.

The bill now basically does the three (3) following things:

1. Provides that concealed weapons license holders may also carry openly - to prevent license holders from being charged with the crime of violating the "Open Carry" law because a concealed firearm accidentally or inadvertently became visible.

2. Provides that concealed weapons license holders may store a firearm in private vehicle anywhere the vehicle is lawfully parked except those places that are exempted under s. 790.251(7) -- the parking lot law.

3. Removes the obsolete firearms purchase in contiguous state law previously required by federal law for out of state purchases of long guns and replaces it with language to conform to current federal requirements that allows purchase of long guns in other states.

REPUBLICANS VOTING FOR THE BILL:
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]

REPUBLICANS VOTING AGAINST THE BILL:
[email protected],

DEMOCRATS VOTING AGAINST THE BILL:
margolis.gwen@[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected],

NOT VOTING:
[email protected],

CURRENT STATUS OF OUR PRO-GUN BILLS:

THANKS TO YOUR HELP WITH E-MAILS AND PHONE CALLS, all of the bills we have been working to pass (3 Senate bills & 3 House bills) have passed all of their committee references and are now ready for the Floor of their respective chambers. They are:

SB 234 by state Senator Evers, Concealed Weapons Licensing Reform
SB 402 by state Senator Negron, Penalties for Violating Preemption
SB 432 by state Senator Evers, Privacy of Firearms Owners
HB 45 by state Representative Gaetz, Penalties for Violating Preemption
HB 155 by state Representative Brodeur, Privacy of Firearms Owners
HB 517 by state Representative Dorworth, Concealed Weapons Licensing Reform

Your continuing e-mails to your state legislators in support of these bills will be CRITICAL when they come to the floors of each chamber. 

At this point, there are no set time frames for the bill to move to the floor.  The Senate will be in recess all next week.  The House will be in recess Monday and Tuesday but will be back working the rest of the week. 

Please watch for alerts and react quickly.  We will be dealing with VERY SHORT time frames when these bills start moving.