. . . and good news for us. The NRA is alive and well in Tallahassee. It's a good thing I'm retired and have the time to refute these bozos. I just spent an hour crafting a nicely-worded rebuttal couched in "cordial disagreement" terms. 
Notice the `very little activism' phrase as to why the anti-gun side doesn't prevail -- it DOES pay to gripe even thought it doesn't appear so.
http://www.herald.com/thispage.htm?content/today/docs/052674.htm
Gun bills languishing in the state Legislature
STEVE BOUSQUET
sbousquet@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- The nation's biggest gun maker has agreed to put child-proof locks on weapons and two states are rushing to pass trigger-lock laws, but similar proposals have been quietly buried again in the Florida Legislature -- long a safe haven for the gun lobby.
Even legislation that would outlaw guns in hospitals -- inspired by a pair of shootings in Miami-Dade County -- was defeated by a House committee loyal to the National Rifle Association.
With the 2000 session nearly half over, bills requiring trigger locks on handguns in homes with children have not been heard by any committee. Lawmakers have carved out time to debate the need for a state barbecue commissioner, but gun bills are languishing and a key senator would not say Tuesday whether a hearing would be held.
``I want to keep you curious,'' said a smiling Sen. John Grant, R-Tampa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declining Tuesday to say whether the issue would be debated. Grant is a longstanding opponent of gun restrictions and, like any committee chairman, he holds life or death power over which bills are heard.
Any bill assigned to a committee that is not heard is effectively dead unless legislative leaders agree to send the bill elsewhere.
Grant did say he was happy to hear that 37 percent of Florida families with children own guns. ``It's good to know their safety is ensured by something other than 911,'' said the Tampa lawyer.
GOING NOWHERE
Sen. Betty Holzendorf, D-Jacksonville, sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation, said she leaves notes on Grant's desk daily, but has not yet heard from him. ``It doesn't look like we're going to get a hearing,'' she said. Weeks ago, the parents of a 6-year-old Jacksonville boy who died from an accidental gunshot at a friend's home appeared at a Capitol news conference to draw attention to the trigger-lock issue.
``If we can put safety locks on medicine, we need them on guns,'' said Rep. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, sponsor of the House trigger-lock legislation. ``If we tell people to wear seat belts because of too many deaths without them, then we need to have trigger locks on guns in houses where children are living or may be visiting.''
Rep. Howard Futch, R-Melbourne Beach, chairs the House committee that has been assigned the House trigger-lock bill. He said Tuesday that he did not know where the bill was.
``I may have it buried in there somewhere,'' Futch said.
A `LOOK AND SEE'
Asked if the bill might be heard next week, Futch said: ``I don't know. We'll take a look and see. I'll take a look at it. . . . I haven't heard anything about it. Nobody's excited yet. They will be if they see it on the agenda, though.''
``They'' is Marion Hammer, the NRA's tenacious Tallahassee lobbyist, who has worked tirelessly to thwart passage of any new gun laws. Hammer says existing law makes it a crime for parents to not keep a loaded gun stored in a locked box or kept safely out of a child's reach.
Hammer, a familiar figure in the Capitol halls, has even succeeded in defeating legislation that would have prohibited carrying concealed weapons in medical facilities. The bill was filed by Rep. Willie Logan, D-Opa-locka, after two shootings in Miami-Dade hospitals.
Hammer was not impressed that Maryland was trying to follow the lead of Massachusetts, where a new law requires child-proof locks, safety warnings, and tamper-resistant serial numbers on all weapons sold in the state. The Massachusetts law relies on the attorney general's power to regulate consumer products.
``What do you expect from the state that gave us Ted Kennedy?'' Hammer said. ``Those are two states in the union that don't even belong here.''
GUN CONTROL
Another gun-control bill going nowhere, sponsored by Rep. Elaine Bloom, D-Miami Beach, would require child-proof locks and background checks on anyone who buys a weapon in public, such as a gun show or weekend flea market. That bill, too, was assigned to Futch's House Law Enforcement & Crime Prevention Committee, where it has disappeared from sight.
``That committee was put together as a very friendly committee for the NRA,'' Bloom said.
Logan, who filed the bill to ban guns in hospitals, said he admired the NRA for its tenacity and that the climate on gun control won't change soon.
``Given the makeup of the Legislature at this point in time and the influence the NRA has, it's very difficult here in Florida to pass any law or even have a real discussion on better laws on their use and access,'' said Logan, who attributed the pro-gun climate to ``very little activism'' by Floridians who favor gun control.
Hammer was busy Tuesday lobbying Sen. Walter ``Skip'' Campbell, D-Tamarac, to drop his bill that would require integrated locks on all new guns sold in the state. As drafted, Hammer told Campbell, the bill amounts to ``extortion'' on gun manufacturers.
Hammer said she was glad to see the trigger-lock bills were going nowhere.
``There comes a point in time where you stop wasting precious time on legislation that never was a good idea,'' Hammer said.
Herald staff writer Phil Long contributed to this report.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
Notice the `very little activism' phrase as to why the anti-gun side doesn't prevail -- it DOES pay to gripe even thought it doesn't appear so.
http://www.herald.com/thispage.htm?content/today/docs/052674.htm
Gun bills languishing in the state Legislature
STEVE BOUSQUET
sbousquet@herald.com
TALLAHASSEE -- The nation's biggest gun maker has agreed to put child-proof locks on weapons and two states are rushing to pass trigger-lock laws, but similar proposals have been quietly buried again in the Florida Legislature -- long a safe haven for the gun lobby.
Even legislation that would outlaw guns in hospitals -- inspired by a pair of shootings in Miami-Dade County -- was defeated by a House committee loyal to the National Rifle Association.
With the 2000 session nearly half over, bills requiring trigger locks on handguns in homes with children have not been heard by any committee. Lawmakers have carved out time to debate the need for a state barbecue commissioner, but gun bills are languishing and a key senator would not say Tuesday whether a hearing would be held.
``I want to keep you curious,'' said a smiling Sen. John Grant, R-Tampa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, declining Tuesday to say whether the issue would be debated. Grant is a longstanding opponent of gun restrictions and, like any committee chairman, he holds life or death power over which bills are heard.
Any bill assigned to a committee that is not heard is effectively dead unless legislative leaders agree to send the bill elsewhere.
Grant did say he was happy to hear that 37 percent of Florida families with children own guns. ``It's good to know their safety is ensured by something other than 911,'' said the Tampa lawyer.
GOING NOWHERE
Sen. Betty Holzendorf, D-Jacksonville, sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation, said she leaves notes on Grant's desk daily, but has not yet heard from him. ``It doesn't look like we're going to get a hearing,'' she said. Weeks ago, the parents of a 6-year-old Jacksonville boy who died from an accidental gunshot at a friend's home appeared at a Capitol news conference to draw attention to the trigger-lock issue.
``If we can put safety locks on medicine, we need them on guns,'' said Rep. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, sponsor of the House trigger-lock legislation. ``If we tell people to wear seat belts because of too many deaths without them, then we need to have trigger locks on guns in houses where children are living or may be visiting.''
Rep. Howard Futch, R-Melbourne Beach, chairs the House committee that has been assigned the House trigger-lock bill. He said Tuesday that he did not know where the bill was.
``I may have it buried in there somewhere,'' Futch said.
A `LOOK AND SEE'
Asked if the bill might be heard next week, Futch said: ``I don't know. We'll take a look and see. I'll take a look at it. . . . I haven't heard anything about it. Nobody's excited yet. They will be if they see it on the agenda, though.''
``They'' is Marion Hammer, the NRA's tenacious Tallahassee lobbyist, who has worked tirelessly to thwart passage of any new gun laws. Hammer says existing law makes it a crime for parents to not keep a loaded gun stored in a locked box or kept safely out of a child's reach.
Hammer, a familiar figure in the Capitol halls, has even succeeded in defeating legislation that would have prohibited carrying concealed weapons in medical facilities. The bill was filed by Rep. Willie Logan, D-Opa-locka, after two shootings in Miami-Dade hospitals.
Hammer was not impressed that Maryland was trying to follow the lead of Massachusetts, where a new law requires child-proof locks, safety warnings, and tamper-resistant serial numbers on all weapons sold in the state. The Massachusetts law relies on the attorney general's power to regulate consumer products.
``What do you expect from the state that gave us Ted Kennedy?'' Hammer said. ``Those are two states in the union that don't even belong here.''
GUN CONTROL
Another gun-control bill going nowhere, sponsored by Rep. Elaine Bloom, D-Miami Beach, would require child-proof locks and background checks on anyone who buys a weapon in public, such as a gun show or weekend flea market. That bill, too, was assigned to Futch's House Law Enforcement & Crime Prevention Committee, where it has disappeared from sight.
``That committee was put together as a very friendly committee for the NRA,'' Bloom said.
Logan, who filed the bill to ban guns in hospitals, said he admired the NRA for its tenacity and that the climate on gun control won't change soon.
``Given the makeup of the Legislature at this point in time and the influence the NRA has, it's very difficult here in Florida to pass any law or even have a real discussion on better laws on their use and access,'' said Logan, who attributed the pro-gun climate to ``very little activism'' by Floridians who favor gun control.
Hammer was busy Tuesday lobbying Sen. Walter ``Skip'' Campbell, D-Tamarac, to drop his bill that would require integrated locks on all new guns sold in the state. As drafted, Hammer told Campbell, the bill amounts to ``extortion'' on gun manufacturers.
Hammer said she was glad to see the trigger-lock bills were going nowhere.
``There comes a point in time where you stop wasting precious time on legislation that never was a good idea,'' Hammer said.
Herald staff writer Phil Long contributed to this report.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald
------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.