Luis Valdez writes:
Current law mandates a three-day wait for handgun purchases and no wait for long gun sales. But Florida counties are allowed to amend the regulation to increase the waiting period to five days for both. (Of course weekends and holidays don’t count.)
Florida conceal carry weapon (CCW) permit holders are exempt from the waiting period, having jumped through the State’s legal hoops: application, fingerprints, nonrefundable fees, mandated class, background check, etc.
Under State Chapter 790 of the Florida Criminal Statutes. Law Enforcement Officials are granted exemptions from all but one of the requirements for a CCW permit: they have to pay the fees.
The State now wants to give police officers an additional exemption, so they can exercise their gun rights without the government interference bedeviling “ordinary” citizens.
HJR-291 (passed 115-1 ) HB-673 (passed 117-0) on a bipartisan basis. The Republicans and Democrats can work together in the House to pass those two bills but choose to bash SB-616 (Courthouse Gun Check In) upon the rocks in the sake of passing SB-10 (Everglades Water).
The bipartisan sponsors of the legislation, Rep. Don Hahnfeldt (R) and Rep. Robert Asencio (D) believed the carve out is needed and recognizes the training given to Law Enforcement Officers.
And somehow Speaker of the House Richard Corcoran (R) can find the time to get this voted on but not SB-616. (Florida Republicans killed another Pro-Gun bill in the last week of the Legislative Session.)
“This bill will help protect Floridians in every town, city, and county by making sure our tax dollars are being properly spent to ensure officers are properly equipped to fight crime and keep our communities safe,” Rep. Asencio (D) said in a statement released by the FL House Democratic Office. “It is commonsense measures like these that continue to move our state forward.”If signed into law; it would be a change to the State Constitution via the 2018 general election ballot. Ultimately voters would have a say. (Thank God)