Anne Geggis
Broward County’s embattled Sheriff Gregory Tony appeared before the Broward County legislative delegation Friday and took a stand against what the Republican-controlled Legislature has said is a priority: allowing people to get guns without a permit.
Republican lawmakers have said they are for permitless carry, and Gov. Ron DeSantis said he will sign legislation allowing it. A bill proposing it has not yet arrived, but Tony said he is “100,000 plus 10%” in disagreement with the idea, as are most of his fellow Sheriffs around the country.
“I have too much experience with mass shootings and dealing with mass shooter events,” he said.
The Florida Commission on Ethics twice — once in September and another time in December — found probable cause Tony misused his public office when he failed to disclose that he had been arrested as a juvenile for a fatal shooting. He was acquitted of the charge, but now he will either have his case heard in front of a Florida Division of Administrative Hearings Judge, and go back to the Commission, or accept a stipulated agreement with the ethics panel.
His name is not on the next meeting’s agenda scheduled for later this month, however.
None of the delegation members brought up the situation, which could mean Gov. DeSantis suspends Broward’s first Black Sheriff. DeSantis appointed Tony to the role after he suspended Sheriff Scott Israel, responding to the Department’s widely panned performance during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
Tony, however, acknowledged the awkwardness of the situation when he responded to an audience member’s question about “open carry” gun laws, that Democratic Rep. Michael Gottlieb is more likely to arrive in Tallahassee as a law allowing permitless carry.
“Let me get out while I’m ahead,” he said, chuckling after the question was asked. “Have a good day.”
Tony said he knows some of his fellow Florida Sheriffs to the north will be supporting the change to permitless carry, but argued Sheriffs from bigger jurisdictions, those who belong to the Major County Sheriffs of America share his sentiments about looser regulation of gun ownership. The organization is opposed to permitless carry, he said.
“They’ve shared their experiences of the dynamics of calls that, ‘Hey, we have someone walking through school campus with a rifle over their shoulder,’” he said. “That creates some alarm and activation of 1,000 different variables that are not good for public safety.”
He said that too often the same factors emerge in deadly shootings and they all involve access to a firearm.
“Let’s keep the checks and expand,” he said.
10 comments
Rich7553
January 13, 2023 at 11:19 pm
So Tomy Gregory lied not only about his past, but when he swore an oath to abide the Constitution. Good to know.
Boaz
January 14, 2023 at 3:22 am
How myopic of him
Andrew T. Linko
January 14, 2023 at 11:02 am
Thank you, Sheriff. The party that always proclaims they stand for law enforcement, needs to spend one day with them before giving their insurrection its base, their proud boy base unlimited weapon ownership. These law enforcement personnel, whether local, state, or federal place their lives on the line as well as their families, and we do NOT need unlimited, unaccounted firearms in a society that has shown they do not respect law, nor authority!
Rich7553
January 14, 2023 at 3:40 pm
Newsflash – police have no duty to protect any individual. While you’re waiting on help, I’ll be protecting myself.
No you won’t
January 14, 2023 at 8:37 pm
“I’ll be protecting myself”
That’s what everyone with a plan that fails says lol
Paul Passarelli
January 14, 2023 at 11:58 am
when someone says something like the following:
“He said that too often the same factors emerge in deadly shootings and they all involve access to a firearm.”
The first thing that comes to my mind is a research paper and numerical analysis of “Teen Pregnancy” and how is drops off markedly after age 20!
It also reinforces my understanding that fatal car crashes invariably involve motor vehicles, and bar fights are closely tied to the consumption of alcohol and the places where it is sold. And my fave, obesity correlates strongly to body weight.
Bottom line, I don’t want criminals having guns, DUH. But I do want the bad guys to think twice about getting blown away before pulling a gun and pointing it at the clerk in the convenience store.
Tjb
January 16, 2023 at 1:45 pm
Knowing you Paul, you would miss hitting the bad guy and end up killing the clerk. DUH!
Paul Passarelli
January 16, 2023 at 2:33 pm
@Tjb, you know *absolutely nothing* about me.
But I will tell you that I’m not foolhardy. The thing is that when one is an actor in such a scenario, there is no benefit of a 3rd party perspective.
Tjb
January 16, 2023 at 6:20 pm
The 3rd party perspective sees a paranoid fool,Polly,in this scene.
Andrew T. Linko
January 14, 2023 at 12:26 pm
So your synopsis is, you want more guns, and every citizen being armed? That’s great for the gun industry, but I do think the shortages of personnel are in law enforcement and medical field. Let’s try giving these fields support, not the NRA or gun industry.
Comments are closed.