Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

Florida Alert! League of Women Voters: Florida's New Gun Ban Organization

Friday, February 3, 2017

DATE: February 3, 2017
TO: USF & NRA Member and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
  USF Executive Director
  NRA Past President

The League of Women Voters is not who you think they are. The Florida League of Women Voters is Florida's newest gun ban organization.

A lobbyist representing the League of Women Voters -- Patti Brigham -- isn't registered as a lobbyist with the state, but she shows up in committee to support gun control and oppose Second Amendment rights over and over again.

The League has been working with anti-gun Democrat legislators to write and file gun ban legislation. They work in secret to deny constitutional rights while pretending to be strong constitutionalists in order to solicit memberships and donations from people who have no idea what the League is really doing.

But Patti Brigham isn't just a gun control lobbyist for the League, she is the League's first vice president. Brigham is working with Kristen Rand, the Legislative Director of the Violence Policy Center, (a Washington, D.C. based gun control organization) to ban the gun rights of Florida's law-abiding gun owners.

In fact, we recently received credible information that the bill recently filed to ban so-called "assault weapons" and "high capacity magazines" was initiated by the League of Women Voters and their 1st VP, Patti Brigham.

Emails from a public records request were shared with us.  They unearthed a series of emails between the two organizations and a legislator that paint a very disturbing picture of their partnership to undermine the firearms freedom of all Floridians. Those emails strings between Patti Brigham, Kristen Rand, and Rep. Carlos Smith (D) have every appearance of being authentic.   Since Rep. Smith has filed the assault weapons ban bill (HB-167) discussed and planned in these emails, there is no reason to believe otherwise.

In an email, the League's 1st VP Patti Brigham told Kristen Rand,

"Our coalition has found sponsors to carry an assault weapons/large capacity magazine ban in FL. We are wondering if you/or an attorney with the VPC [Violence Policy Center] could take a look. We are concerned that we may have left off some weapons from the bill, which we modeled on the CT legislation. We are hoping to file the bill in early January." 

Yes, you read that right. Connecticut-style gun control in Florida. And the sponsors the League of Women Voters found to file the gun ban bills are Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Winter Park) who filed  and Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) who filed  SB-254.

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRENDING NOW
The NFA’s New Era: What Has Changed, What Remains the Same, Items of Note

News  

Monday, October 12, 2026

The NFA’s New Era: What Has Changed, What Remains the Same, Items of Note

As we announced separately this week, ATF has determined that it will use its executive discretion to uniformly suspend enforcement of large portions of the National Firearms Act (NFA).

Guardsmen’s Arrest Shows D.C. Still Lacks Common Sense, Proportionality on Guns

News  

Monday, October 12, 2026

Guardsmen’s Arrest Shows D.C. Still Lacks Common Sense, Proportionality on Guns

A lot of has changed for the better in the Nation’s Capital since Donald Trump returned to the White House. But the recent arrest of a young National Guardsman for an apparently harmless breach of ...

Officials Admit It: There’s No Actual Substance Behind Canadian Gun Grab

News  

Monday, October 12, 2026

Officials Admit It: There’s No Actual Substance Behind Canadian Gun Grab

A year ago, Canada’s Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree admitted, in a bombshell recording with a gun owner, that the Liberal government’s “assault-style firearm” ban and confiscation program isn’t driven by public safety or gun ...

Creating Crimes Out of Thin Air: Federal Bill Seeks to Treat Air Guns as Firearms

News  

Monday, October 5, 2026

Creating Crimes Out of Thin Air: Federal Bill Seeks to Treat Air Guns as Firearms

A new bill introduced in Congress proposes to regulate “lethal air guns” as firearms under the Gun Control Act of 1968, as amended (GCA). Yet the risk of fatalities and criminal misuse from air guns ...

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Federal Court Strikes Down NFA Registration Requirements for Suppressors, Short-Barreled Rifles, and Short-Barreled Shotguns in NRA Case

In another major victory for the National Rifle Association and law-abiding gun owners, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas today held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for ...

Not Your Father’s ATF: Agency Pledges Reform, Distances Itself from Biden-Harris Era

News  

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Not Your Father’s ATF: Agency Pledges Reform, Distances Itself from Biden-Harris Era

A headline on the website of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives appeared late in the day on May 21: “ATF Launches New Era of Reform.” According to the accompanying announcement:

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

News  

Monday, August 17, 2026

Questions and Answers About the Texas NFA Case

On August 12, we reported on an important development in the ongoing litigation over the National Firearms Act (NFA) filed by multiple plaintiffs in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. These included, ...

Jive Turkeys: Everytown Gears Up to Spoil Thanksgiving with Gobbledygook

News  

Monday, November 17, 2025

Jive Turkeys: Everytown Gears Up to Spoil Thanksgiving with Gobbledygook

Thanksgiving in America isn’t just about food, family and football. According to a survey published by casino.ca (with its Great Thanksgiving Family Feud Map), the holiday typically “comes with a slice of family chaos and a touch of ...

What Does the Texas NFA Decision Mean for You?

News  

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

What Does the Texas NFA Decision Mean for You?

On August 5, 2026, Judge Wesley Hendrix of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the National Firearms Act’s registration and approval requirements for suppressors, short-barreled rifles, and short-barreled shotguns ...

U.S. Department of Justice Declares Age 18-20 Handgun Sales Ban Unconstitutional

News  

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

U.S. Department of Justice Declares Age 18-20 Handgun Sales Ban Unconstitutional

On September 17, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a memorandum opinion to answer the question “whether restricting young adults from buying firearms comports with the Second Amendment as the Supreme ...

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.