Ron DeSantis is moving full steam ahead with expanding freedom in the Sunshine State.
But members of his own party are proving to be an obstacle.
And Ron DeSantis was grinning from ear to ear when he heard this plan to upend RINOS.
Florida lags behind many Republican states in gun rights after the tragic 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Then-Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) and RINOs in the Florida Legislature caved to the media in the aftermath and passed a slew of gun control measures.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has been working to restore Floridians’ Second Amendment rights since taking office.
RINO State Senate President stops pro-gun bill
Included in the gun control measures after Parkland was a bill that raised the age to buy a rifle in Florida from 18 to 21.
State Representatives Bobby Payne (R-FL) and Tyler Sirois (R-FL) sponsored a bill in the last session of the Florida Legislature to lower the age back to 18.
“Today, I’m standing on the side of our framers [and] Constitution,” Payne said. “They can’t buy a long gun in our state but can in 43 other states.”
DeSantis came out in support of the proposal calling the current law “unconstitutional,” noting that Floridians under the age of 21 serving in the military could not legally purchase a rifle.
“Look, I was in Iraq. I was there with 18-year-old Marines, 18-year-old soldiers that were put out in the streets of Fallujah and Rhimadi and told they had to risk their lives for this country. Then they come back after doing that, and even though they were carrying a firearm the whole time, they’re told you cannot exercise your Second Amendment rights here as an adult and as a veteran?” DeSantis said.
The State House passed the bill, but it died in the State Senate because anti-gun RINO State Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R) refused to pass any gun rights legislation this year.
Florida Agriculture Commissioner has plan to lower age to buy a rifle
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson told Florida’s Voice in an exclusive interview that the agriculture bill next year will include a measure to lower the age to buy a rifle to 18.
“We are going to put it in the [agricultural] package next year,” Simpson said. “No – if you can serve your country, if you can be a law enforcement officer, if you’re 18 years old – you can buy a long gun.”
The “agriculture package” is a bill in Florida that pertains to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the agriculture industry in the state.
By including it in the AG bill, it will be more difficult for RINOs to vote against it than if it was a stand-alone bill.
“It is your constitutional right to do so, and [the age] shouldn’t have been [raised] in the first place,” Simpson added.
Gun rights could be restored in Florida next year with a novel solution to get around the blockade against pro-gun legislation.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
