Scott Powers
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris King responded to the Las Vegas massacre by lashing out at “Florida’s one-party government” for not pursuing gun law changes after the Pulse nightclub massacre, saying it is time for action.
“We can pray for the victims and their families, but that alone won’t stop it from happening again,” King stated in a news release and on social media. “There are many people who are angry, myself included, with the nonstop incidences of gun violence in America.”
King charged that Florida lawmakers failed to implement proposals for universal background checks for gun purchases, limits on the size of firearms magazines and ending the prohibition on studies of gun violence after the shooting at Pulse June 12, 2016 — which killed 49 and wounded 53.
He also noted the lack of spending on mental health services, which he said ranks 50th nationally.
“In Florida, our one-party state government in Tallahassee did not act to implement these ideas,” King said.
King, a Winter Park developer of affordable housing and senior housing, faces Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and former U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham of Tallahassee in seeking the Democratic nomination to run for governor in 2018. The leading Republicans are Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam of Bartow and state Sen. Jack Latvala of Clearwater.
“No political leader can ever guarantee that but for this law or that policy, a tragedy could have been prevented. But there is no doubt that the United States has much more it can do to combat gun violence,” King concluded. “There is nothing more noble to be done to honor the victims of this most recent tragedy in Nevada than to combine action with our prayers.”
