They’re coming for your modern sporting firearms again. State Senator Gary Farmer (D-District 34) has introduced SB 370, a bill to ban commonly-owned firearms in the state of Florida.
SB 370 is modeled after the Clinton “assault weapon” and “high capacity” magazine ban, but the new bill adds several additional anti-gun provisions.
Predictably, SB 370 bans the sale of a lengthy list of semi-automatic firearms, guns that are naturally mislabeled as “assault weapons.” It also bans the sale of similar firearms that have design features that Sen. Farmer finds especially objectionable such as pistol grips, threaded barrels, and folding or “telescoping” stocks…as well as the parts needed to assemble semi-automatic firearms.
An anti-gun attorney general will surely interpret the ban on the sale of parts to mean that a person couldn’t even buy spare parts to repair a firearm that is already owned.
SB 370 also bans the sale of certain defined semi-automatic handguns and includes broad, far-reaching language which specifically includes some .22 caliber rimfire weapons.
Finally, SB 370 labels any magazine that holds more than 10 cartridges as a “large capacity magazine” and outlaws those as well.
Turning Rights into Privileges
If you already own one of the listed firearms, Sen. Farmer will allow you to keep it, but only if you comply with several conditions.
First, you can never sell the firearm to another Florida resident. And you can only continue to own it if you apply for and receive a “CERTIFICATE OF POSSESSION OF ASSAULT WEAPON.” A gun owner will need a separate “CERTIFICATE OF POSSESSION OF ASSAULT WEAPON” for each firearm and magazine.
For this privilege, the gun owner must provide a thumb print as well as other personally identifying information, including detailed information about the firearm(s) and magazine(s). SB 370 also has very strict rules about when and where someone can possess a so-called “assault weapon” or “LCM.”
In a classic divide and conquer maneuver, Sen. Farmer will allow licensed manufacturers to continue to manufacture “assault weapons” and LCMs in the Sunshine State for sale to law enforcement agencies or out-of-state buyers.
When we see this type of legislation, it always exempts law enforcement. SB 370 is no different. It appears that by virtue of their employment, law enforcement officers will, of course, be able to purchase weapons that are banned for sale to other law-abiding, tax-paying Floridians.
SB 370 is a wish list of the radical left gun banners.
Luis Valdes is the Florida Director for Gun Owners of America.