Sean Shaw: Second Amendment silent on assault weapons

The Second Amendment has already surfaced as an issue in the Attorney General race, although a different perspective will likely emerge once Sean Shaw hits the campaign trail full-time.

The Tampa Democrat hasn’t done much campaigning since he officially entered the contest last month, but, undoubtedly, he will transition into candidate-mode when the Legislative Session concludes.

Speaking to parishioners Sunday at Bethel African-American Episcopal Church in East Tampa, Shaw was incredulous that House Republicans rejected a proposal to discuss banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, despite the pleas from students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The vote came just six days after a former student killed 17 people at the Broward County school.

“I don’t care what you hear, I don’t care what you see, or who you speak with, that is a fact, and it’s very upsetting,” Shaw said.

Speaker Richard Corcoran and other House Republicans say it would have been unprecedented to address the bill (HB 2019) since it had not been passed out of committee.

Republicans in the Legislature will have a chance to vote on gun regulations this week, beginning Monday, when the Senate Rules Committee will discuss provisions which include raising the legal age for purchasing any firearm, imposing a three-day waiting period for most gun purchases, and increasing school safety measures. A similar package will be taken up by the House Rules Committee on Tuesday.

Shaw says he supports those proposals and will vote for them in the House. But he also says the proposals do not address assault weapons, a common denominator in the Parkland and Pulse massacres.

“People should not have access to these weapons of war,” he said angrily. “I don’t care what (people say) the Second Amendment says and I read it and I’m a lawyer and it does not give you the right to have an assault rifle. It’s not what the Second Amendment does. The Second Amendment allows the government to regulate gun laws and that’s what we intend to do.”

In the early stages of the Republican race for Attorney General, Jacksonville state Rep. Jay Fant accused former Hillsborough County Judge Ashley Moody of being insufficiently supportive of the Second Amendment, and challenged her to a debate on the subject (Moody declined).

While the political fallout from Parkland may rejigger the calculus for some Republicans on gun regulation matters, Fant does not appear to be in any sort of retreat, tweeting just days after the Parkland massacre that “liberals on fake news” were driving the gun control debate.

https://twitter.com/jay_fant/status/964534812798279680

Shaw was elected in 2016 to represent the heavily Democratic-leaning House District 61 in Tampa and other parts of Hillsborough County, but he says that constantly being on the losing end of party-line votes like last week’s bill on discussing an assault weapons bans is in large part what has compelled him to run for Attorney General this year.

“I worked very hard for this seat, but you can hear the frustration in my voice, and that’s one of the reasons why I decided to run for attorney general, because, as one of 120 members of the Florida House, I can’t do anything but vote in the minority to address those kids that we’re standing up at that gallery,” he said, “but I know what I can do as Attorney General. I don’t have to ask nobody for nothing! If I want to do something, it gets done.”

Ryan Torrens is the other Democrat in the race. Pensacola state Rep. Frank White and Dover state Rep. Ross Spano fill out the Republican field.

(Photo credit: Kim DeFalco).