FL firearm-related legislation & gun safety team mtg.
We’ve started tracking firearm-related bills introduced for the 2020 FL Legislative session which opens January 14th. To date, 14 bills have been introduced in the FL Senate, all of which we consider to be smart gun safety legislation; 11 bills have been introduced in the House, we consider less than half to be smart legislation. Thanks to the diligent work of team member Kathy Phelan, we’ll be updating this page regularly & reporting on significant action through the end of session next spring.
We believe that one of the most effective pieces of legislation that the 2020 FL Legislature can pass is the expansion of risk protection orders (AKA red flag laws) so that family and household members can petition the courts to remove firearms from those most at risk to themselves or others. Only law enforcement personnel can now initiate court petitions under legislation passed March 2018. Across the state, 2654 orders were initiated by law enforcement between April 2018 and Aug. 2019. The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department initiated 381 requests; 791 guns and 147,000 rounds of ammunition were removed through Sept 2019. Read more in a special report, “Dangerous but disarmed,” from the Tampa Bay Times.
Join our next LWVSPA Gun Safety Team meeting on Monday, Oct. 28th, 7-8:30pm in the Wesley Room, Allendale United Methodist Church, 3801 Haines Rd. N. Our agenda will include:
State & federal gun safety updates
2020 FL Legislative Session: outreach to legislators
Taking local action