By: Bryan Boggiano
Local and state officials are hoping to break the red tape around a controversial Florida law.
Nikki Fried joined various elected officials from Broward County and Coral Springs Wednesday over Zoom. They discussed Florida’s gun preemption law and asked the Florida Supreme Court to take up the case against it.
Fried and State Representative Dan Daley (D-Coral Springs) coordinated the event.
Florida’s preemption order threatens mayors, commissioners, and other local leaders with fines, lawsuits, and removal from office if they even consider gun safety measures, according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“What we need…is for local leaders to be able to institute common-sense ordinances that fit their community’s needs and values,” Fried said. “Instead, our local leaders are being threatened with extreme punishments for doing their jobs. It is wrong. It is undemocratic.”
Daley said that the current law is one of the most dangerous state laws on the books, which is why he was involved in attempting to repeal it in 2019. Now, he believes the issue is important and the Florida Supreme Court needs to take it up.
“Do it for the 49 victims of the Pulse shooting. Do it for the 17 victims of the shooting at my alma mater Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. And do it for the hundreds of men, women, and children who are gunned down in the streets across Florida every week,” he said.”
Fried and Daley were joined by Mayor Scott Brook, Vice Mayor Joshua Simmons, Commissioner Joy Carter, Commissioner Nancy Metayer, Coconut Creek Mayor Becky Tooley, Lauderhill Commissioner Melissa P. Dunn, Hallandale Beach Commissioner Sabrina Javellana, Parkland Commissioner Ken Cutler, and Coconut Creek Commissioner Jackie Railey.
Moms Demand Action volunteer Nancy Fry and Fred Guttenberg also spoke.
Guttenberg said that local officials doing more to protect their constituents from gun violence should not be controversial and that local officials should have more power.
“Let me be clear: gun violence is not partisan. This issue shouldn’t be partisan. The notion of doing more to save a life shouldn’t be partisan. But somehow, saving lives in Florida has become partisan,” he said.
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