Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN Legal & Legislation

Florida Alert! 2019 Florida Legislative Session Wrap-Up

Friday, May 17, 2019

DATE:  May 17, 2019
TO:       USF & NRA Members and Friends
FROM: Marion P. Hammer
  USF Executive Director
  NRA Past President

 

PROTECTION OF CHURCH PROPERTY BILL KILLED AGAIN!


Once again the Florida Legislature has turned a deaf ear to the pleas of ministers, church administrators and church members.  Churches have repeatedly – for over 3 years – prayed and urged the legislature to correct the provision in Florida law that usurps their right to provide safety and security on their property.  While the Florida House listened and passed legislation removing the restriction, the Florida Senate refused to allow SB-1238 by Sen. Debbie Mayfield (R) to pass.  

Sen. Mayfield’s bill passed out of the first committee (Senate Judiciary Committee) by a vote of 4-2.  However, Republican Senator Anitere Flores refused to support the bill in the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, thus preventing it from coming to a vote. Senate leadership did nothing to help.  The Senate Criminal Justice Committee is made up of 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats.

The actions of Sen. Anitere Flores show that she is anti-gun and anti-church property rights.  Sen. Flores not only blocked the Church Protection bill this year, she is responsible for effectively killing it with a bad amendment in 2018, gutting it, and making it unacceptable.  She also voted to kill it in committee in 2017. 

Sen. Flores’ history of opposing the private property rights of churches and other religious institutions, as well as her clear opposition to the First Amendment rights and Second Amendment rights of churches and other religious institutions, is well known. One is therefore prone to wonder if Senate President Bill Galvano deliberately referred the 2019 Church bill to the Criminal Justice Committee to allow Sen. Flores to kill it a third year in a row.  

Reports filed with the Florida Division of Elections and reports in the media (Florida Politics article by Drew Wilson 11/2/2018) show that Republican President Bill Galvano took at least $500,000 from former NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown/Moms Demand anti-gun groups. We know Everytown’s money was for something – killing the church bill might have been part of the reason they gave the money to Sen. Galvano in the first place.

In the House, the Church bill, HB-403 by Rep. Erin Grall, passed out of all three committees of reference (House Criminal Justice Committee 12-2; House Education Committee 15-3; House Judiciary Committee 11-6), and then passed on the House Floor by a vote of 79 to 35, with 9 Democrats voting in FAVOR of the bill.

The House is to be commended for passing the bill all the way through the process even though they suspected that Senate Leadership would kill it.

 

 NO GUN CONTROL BILLS PASS

While no gun control bills passed this session, no pro-gun bills passed either.  However, several bills that are good for gun owners and all Floridians did pass and are awaiting signature by Governor DeSantis.

 

SCHOOL SAFETY BILL ALLOWS TEACHERS TO CHOOSE TO CARRY 

SB-7030 Implementation of Legislative Recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission –  Requiring sheriffs to establish a school guardian program; requiring the Office of Safe Schools to annually provide training for specified personnel; requiring district school boards and school district superintendents to partner with security agencies to establish or assign safe-school officers; revising requirements for school district zero-tolerance policies; providing standards and training for classroom teachers who choose to go through training in order to be armed at school. 

The House vote was 65 - 47 with five (5) Republicans voting AGAINST the bill.  They are all newly elected freshmen. They are:  Vance Aloupis (R-Miami), Mike Beltran (R-Valrico), Mike Caruso (R-Boca Raton), Chip LaMarca (R-Lighthouse Point) and David Smith (R-Winter Springs). The Senate vote was 22-17 with Sen. Anitere Flores voting against it (along with the Democrats).  SIGNED BY GOVERNORMAY 8, 2019

 

PRIVACY RIGHTS OF CONCEALED CARRY LICENSE HOLDERS

HB-7059 Concealed Carry License –  Keeps in place the exemption from public records requirements for certain personal identifying information of concealed weapons and firearms license holders and individual applicants for a license to carry a concealed weapon or firearm.  There were no votes against this bill.   SIGNED BY GOVERNORMAY 14, 2019

 

LOCALS MUST PAY ATTORNEY FEES FOR PREEMPTION VIOLATIONS 

HB-829 Attorney Fees by Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R) Imposes an award of attorney fees and costs and damages in civil actions against local governments when organizations and individuals have to bring lawsuits against municipalities and counties for violating preemption laws. Effective Date: 7/1/2019.  The vote on House Passage was 77-31 and in the Senate,  25-14.  AWAITING GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE.

 

PROTECTING THE CONSTITUTION FROM OUTSIDERS 

HB-5 – Contains an amendment by Rep. James Grant (R) to restore the right of Floridians to control the Florida citizen’s initiative petition process.  The amendment is intended to stop out-of-state millionaires and billionaires from sending paid, out-of-state petition gatherers into Florida to collect petition signatures to change Florida’s Constitution for the benefit of out-of-state special interests. The House voted 105-0 to pass the Grant amendment  with 15 House members not voting. The Senate concurred in the Grant amendment and passed the bill 22-17.  AWAITING GOVERNOR’S SIGNATURE.

 

For the final disposition of pro-gun and anti-gun bills during the 2019 Session please click here: 

https://shared.nrapvf.org/sharedmedia/1510811/usf-newsletter-page-2_-may-2019.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRENDING NOW
U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

News  

Second Amendment  

Thursday, May 22, 2025

U.S. House Passes Reconciliation Bill, Removing Suppressors from the National Firearms Act

Earlier today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included Section 2 of the Hearing Protection Act, completely removing suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA).

U.S. Representative Suggests TRIPLING ($600) Suppressor Tax!

News  

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

U.S. Representative Suggests TRIPLING ($600) Suppressor Tax!

Excellent news for gun owners came last week when the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes the complete removal of suppressors from the National Firearms Act (NFA). 

Loot Canal: U.S. Taxpayers Funded Bizarre Dental “Gun Violence” Research

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Loot Canal: U.S. Taxpayers Funded Bizarre Dental “Gun Violence” Research

When the Biden-Harris administration made clear they intended to use a “whole-of-government” approach to suppress Second Amendment rights, few could have predicted their efforts would extend all the way to the dentist’s office.

Australia’s Gun Laws, Failing in Different Ways

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Australia’s Gun Laws, Failing in Different Ways

Everything is relative, so the saying goes, which means that once in a while, it’s instructive to read about the gun laws and the state of gun rights in other countries. 

Twenty-four State Attorneys General Urge Congress to Pass H.R. 38

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Twenty-four State Attorneys General Urge Congress to Pass H.R. 38

On May 21, two dozen state attorneys general sent a letter to the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, urging that body to pass H.R. 38, the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act.

ATF Updates “Brady Permit Chart,” Reduces Need for Redundant NICS Checks

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

ATF Updates “Brady Permit Chart,” Reduces Need for Redundant NICS Checks

We have been reporting on recent reforms by ATF to make its operations more transparent, professional, and public safety focused and less openly hostile to law abiding gun owners and the industries that serve them. 

Anti-gun Shakedown Machine Now Targets Toy Gun Sellers

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Anti-gun Shakedown Machine Now Targets Toy Gun Sellers

The pro-Second Amendment community understands that guns are not toys.

ATF Invites FFLs Zeroed Out Under Biden-Harris to Reapply

News  

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

ATF Invites FFLs Zeroed Out Under Biden-Harris to Reapply

Among all the infringements of the Second Amendment perpetrated by the Biden-Harris regime, one of the most punitive and consequential was ATF’s “zero tolerance” enforcement policy for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs). 

Texas Bill Would Put Local “Buybacks” Out of Business, Ending an Anti-gun Charade

News  

Monday, June 2, 2025

Texas Bill Would Put Local “Buybacks” Out of Business, Ending an Anti-gun Charade

As Texas House Bill 3053 heads to Governor Abbott’s desk, it is serving as a broader reminder to all states of the gun “buybacks” scam, only this time with a legislative solution to this anti-gun mainstay.

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Challenge to Machinegun Possession Ban

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief in Challenge to Machinegun Possession Ban

Yesterday, the National Rifle Association, Firearms Policy Coalition, and FPC Action Foundation filed an amicus brief arguing that the federal prohibition on machinegun possession is unconstitutional as applied to the defendant in the Fifth Circuit case, United States ...

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.