The news out of Florida in terms of gun rights hasn’t been very good in the last year and a half since Parkland. Any state named “most improved” by a civilian disarmament operation like Giffords has some serious problems where the Second Amendment is concerned.
Serious problems like the current ballot initiative that would outlaw all “assault weapons”. What’s the initiative’s definition of an “assault weapon?” There’s the rub.
The measure would ban possession of semiautomatic rifles and shotguns. Semiautomatic would be defined by the measure as “any weapon which fires a single projectile or a number of ball shots through a rifled or smooth bore for each single function of the trigger without further manual action required.” Assault weapon would be defined by the measure as “any semiautomatic rifle or shotgun capable of holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition at once, either in a fixed or detachable magazine, or any other ammunition feeding device.” The definition of assault weapon would exclude handguns under the measure.
Yes, it’s that bad. But all is not yet lost in the land formerly known as The Gunshine State.
The citizen effort to ban assault weapons started after 17 people were killed at a mass shooting at a S. FL high school. GOP #Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is now fighting the assault weapon measure. #FlaPol #sayfie @AGAshleyMoodyhttps://t.co/UtaNcb2igP
— The Florida Phoenix (@FLPhoenixNews) July 29, 2019
In a move that has Florida anti-gunners all a-twitter with shock and outrage . . .
Florida’s Republican attorney general is trying to scuttle a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban the type of rifle used in last year’s Parkland school shooting, a move that comes as the state’s gun control debate intensifies heading into 2020.
Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to block the ballot initiative, which is being pushed by Miami-based Ban Assault Weapons Now, a group that wants to ban most semiautomatic rifles. The group has gathered more than 99,000 certified signatures so far, enough to trigger an automatic legal review of the amendment by the state’s highest court.
Why does Moody object to a ballot measure that proponents say is only designed to get “weapons of war” off of Florida’s streets? Well . . .
In a notice filed with the court, Moody said that the proposal as worded would ban “the possession of virtually every semi-automatic long-gun. To be included on the ballot, the sprawling practical effect must be revealed in the ballot language.”
Moody also said that a provision that would grandfather existing owners of semiautomatic weapons is misleading because it requires owners to register their guns within a year. She called the amendment language “deficient” and said it would mislead voters.
The anti-gun empire is fighting back with all the usual weapons.
.@FlaDems Chair @TerrieRizzo tonight is reacting to @AGAshleyMoody‘s petition asking the FL Supreme Court to invalidate a proposed assault weapon ban ballot measure: “Moody isn’t fighting for Florida, she is fighting to keep her A- rating with the NRA.”
— Troy Kinsey (@TroyKinsey) July 29, 2019
We’re not sure that those NRA ratings carry quite the same weight they did five months ago, but if that’s all the Florida Democrats’ jefe has, we like Moody’s chances.