Lenny Curry has yet to ‘see the light’ on assault weapons ban

This week, Jacksonville developer and political donor Peter Rummell called on Mayor Lenny Curry, a frequent recipient of Rummell dollars, to “see the light” and get behind a ban on assault weapons.

This continued a divergence between the two that first surfaced in the immediate wake of the Parkland massacre in February, when Rummell first spoke out against assault weapons.

Curry, endorsed early in his 2015 mayoral campaign by the NRA, noted soon thereafter that he wasn’t always “100 percent aligned” with donors and supporters.

However, for Curry to “see the light” on an assault weapons ban, he would be far less than “100 percent aligned” with the NRA.

On Thursday in Jacksonville, Curry noted that his position on an assault weapons ban hadn’t changed, but Rummell continues to back him nonetheless.

“We’ve had this discussion a number of times,” Curry said. “I’m a Constitutional Conservative. Peter Rummell is a friend. Peter Rummell is a supporter. Has been for years. Remains one. We speak frequently.”

“However,” Curry added, “we don’t agree on every issue. I don’t expect people who support me to agree with me on everything. They don’t expect me to agree with them on everything.”

We noted that Rummell turned on Alvin Brown, the Democrat the donor backed for mayor in 2011 before saying that Brown “wimped out” as a leader. And we asked if there was a chance Rummell could do the same to Curry.

“Peter Rummell is a friend and supporter,” Curry said. “Stay tuned.”

Curry filed for re-election early in March. His first fundraising reports are due April 10.