Tallahassee, FL–We’ve talked about the tenacity of the Left when it comes to gun control. They’ll lose an election ten times and still come back funding their anti-gun candidate or pushing their anti-gun bills.
Case in point: gun owners in Florida this week were relieved when an assault weapons ban initiative failed. It didn’t fail because voters or politicians kicked it to the curb. No, this one failed because the group behind the ban, Ban Assault Weapons, didn’t meet the requirements to get on the ballot. Ban Assault Weapons Now, was founded after the shooting in Parkland, FL in early 2018.
Just last year, Florida’s legislature made it much more difficult–and more expensive–to get on the ballot. That wasn’t what Ban Assault Weapons Now wanted to hear. Gail Schwartz, chairwoman of the organization said, “It threw a giant monkey wrench into our plans.”
The group got 145,000 verified signatures, but that was a far cry from the 766,200 that were needed by Feb. 1.
But the group is undeterred. They’re pushing for getting their initiative on the ballot in 2022.
In addition to the uphill battle to get on the ballot in 2022, they initiative also has a legal challenge heating up. Republicans have asked the Florida Supreme Court to investigate whether the wording on the initiative was confusing to voters being asked to sign the petition to get it on the ballot.
Those opposed to the ban say that the wording was confusing and went far beyond what would be traditionally understood by the term ‘assault weapon.’
The initiative’s ballot summary defines an assault weapon as a semiautomatic rifle or shotgun capable of carrying more than 10 bullets.
That’s an outrageous stretch, and would ban a 22 caliber long rifle used to shoot rabbits! Of course, most people don’t know that this language is vague and broad so they think, “The people on the news said that ‘assault weapons are weapons of war’ so let’s get those off the streets!”
That’s the media’s effect compounded with voter ignorance, unfortunately.
Still, it’s encouraging to see that Florida’s Supreme Court is investigating this initiative.
The other thing that should deter these leftists to press the issue in 2022 is some of the changes to the process of getting on the ballot. As of 2020, people going out to gather signatures are no longer being paid by the signature. Instead of making up to $4.00 per signature, they’re now required to be paid hourly. You can see the incentive for voter fraud when they were getting paid per signature–and that’s what Florida’s legislature was trying to stop when they changed the rules.
Now, we’re not normally a fan of red tape and bureaucracy and etc. Why? Because it’s nearly always used against gun owners down the road. But it’s a sweet victory today to see the radical left stopped in their tracks by the very red tape they like to use against us!
Meanwhile, Florida’s in the middle of a pretty big gun battle. What was fondly called the ‘gunshine’ state only ten years ago, Florida is facing a plethora of bad bills, bad legislators, sellout Republicans who are bought and paid for by Bloomberg, and the useless Marion ‘Hammer the Scammer’ to fight for gun rights.
And just look at this ballot initiative. They need to gather nearly three quarters of a million signatures and face uphill financial costs the entire time. But they’re not giving up.
That’s why it’s time to suit up, folks. It’s going to get worse in Florida before it gets better.