Let there be guns! Despite pleas from Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected the mayor’s request to ban handguns at the Republican National Convention this summer. And the plentiful deer and quail roaming the halls of Tampa rejoiced.
Originally, Buckhorn wrote a letter to Scott requesting a temporary firearms ban in downtown Tampa. ”A firearm unnecessarily increases the threat of imminent harm and injury to the residents and visitors of the city,” he wrote.
Scott, whose reply fell into Politico’s hands, begged to differ.
“Like you, I share the concern that ‘violent anti-government protests or other civil unrest’ can pose ‘dangers,’” Scott wrote. “But it is unclear how disarming law-abiding citizens would better protect them from the dangers and threats posed by those who would flout the law.”
Scott instead stated his trust in federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to catch evildoers at the convention.
Under Florida law, Buckhorn doesn’t have the authority to ban guns himself – he would need the state legislature’s permission for such a request. Florida Statute 790.33 states that local governments are prohibited from regulating guns under penalty of fines or loss of office. So with handguns out of the question, Tampa’s list of no-no items for demonstration “event zones” is reduced to lumber, hatchets, gas masks, chains and “super soaker” water cannons.
So let’s review: water guns bad, real guns good. Buckhorn called this law “absurd” last month, but he obviously doesn’t remember how Super Soakers ruin pool parties.
Is Rick Scott taking the second amendment too far? We’ll be discussing this news story with Tampa City Council member Mary Mulhern on tonight’s episode of ‘The War Room.’ Be sure to tune in at 9/8c.
