| DATE: | April 3, 2018 |
| TO: | USF & NRA Member and Friends |
| FROM: | Marion P. Hammer |
| USF Executive Director | |
| NRA Past President |
Below is the letter we sent to all Leon County Commissioners today. We don't know if they will even read it since it came from a pro-Second Amendment organization. But, we thought you should have a copy.
An Open Letter to Leon County Commissioners
Date: April 3, 2018
To: Leon County Commissioners
Chairman, Nick Maddox
Vice-Chairman Jimbo Jackson
Commissioner John Dailey
Commissioner Bryan Desloge
Commissioner Kristin Dozier
Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley
Commissioner Bill Proctor
| From: | Marion P. Hammer |
| Past president National Rifle Association | |
| Executive Director Unified Sportsmen of Florida |
Dear Commissioners,
The National Rifle Association and Unified Sportsmen of Florida oppose adoption of Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley’s proposed gun control ordinance.
Commissioner Lindley says, “I realize this is symbolic in large part, but it’s also practical. And it is something that in our community we can do and I feel we need to do.” (Tallahassee Democrat 3/27/2018).
Symbolic? Hardly! State law currently mandates a 3-day waiting period on the purchase of firearms. This proposal would extend it to 5 days. There is no legitimate reason for a 5-day waiting period. It is merely a harassment of the law-abiding gun purchasers who live, pay taxes and vote in Leon County.
Contrary to the claims of gun ban groups, there is no empirical evidence that a waiting period of any length stops crime or criminals. In fact, Broward County adopted the same local option 5-day waiting period years ago and it didn’t stop the horrific murders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The background check provision of the ordinance is a defacto tax on private sales. Both the seller and the buyer must appear in person before a federally licensed firearms dealer, who must then enter the gun into the store’s inventory before conducting the background check.
If the sale is approved, the gun is then transferred to the purchaser and either the seller or purchaser has to pay the background check fee PLUS a transaction fee of any amount the dealer wants to charge – usually no less than $30-$50.
Commissioners, it is already a FEDERAL FELONY (10 years in prison) for a private person to sell a gun to a person he knows, or reasonably should know, is prohibited from owning a gun. Those who try to paint a picture of law-abiding citizens recklessly selling guns to criminals are deliberately attempting to push a false impression.
Commissioner Lindley is seeking to have you adopt a politically motivated ordinance based on nothing more than emotion. It would punish the law-abiding, tax-paying, voting citizens of Leon County for the act of a deranged criminal. We urge you to oppose it.
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