Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschFebruary 17, 2018

With only three weeks left in the 2018 Legislative Session, the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is dominating the conversation in Tallahassee. Democrats have started making noise about Republicans obstructing their long-stalled gun control bills, while GOP-leaders have focused on the need for changes to mental health laws, and needed funding boosts. Gov. Rick […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 16, 2018

Like many of you, I have spent the last two days mourning the tragic loss of life at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a loss of life that was caused by an assault rifle legally purchased in Coral Springs. This community lost daughters, sons, siblings, husbands, cousins and friends. Feb. 14, 2018, will forever be […]

Scott PowersFebruary 16, 2018

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham has expanded her response to Wednesday’s high school massacre from vowing to ban assault weapons if she is elected to calling on current Gov. Rick Scott to immediately suspend their sales. She also declared that Scott’s “legacy will forever be covered in blood” if he and the Legislature do not […]

Danny McAuliffeFebruary 15, 2018

Florida Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson told his colleagues on the Senate floor Thursday that they shouldn’t shy away from addressing gun control measures in the wake of the recent mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. “To those who say now that it’s not the time to talk about gun violence because it’s too soon, we don’t […]

Associated PressMarch 19, 2017

Just down the road from a Krispy Krunchy fried chicken store, in a nondescript east coast business park in Florida, a 60,000-square-foot factory produces about 2,500 AK-47 rifles a month. The Tampa Bay Times reports that Ulrich “Uli” Wiegand, a German immigrant who started the company called Inter Ordinance Inc., sees a bright future for […]

Scott PowersJuly 20, 2016

Democrat Bob Poe is releasing his first television commercial in the Orlando-based Florida’s 10th Congressional District with a declaration of outrage over assault rifles and a promise to seek to ban them and to require universal background checks for gun purchases. Poe, an Orlando businessman and former chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, is pushing the […]

Joe HendersonJuly 16, 2016

So … another warped human has inflicted more misery upon the world. Motivated, perhaps, by tiny voices in his head that repeated a mantra of hate, Mohammed Lahouaiej Bouhle plowed his 20-ton rented truck through a crowd of holiday revelers in the picturesque French town of Nice. He killed 84 people before he, too, was […]

Associated PressJuly 2, 2016

A suburban Chicago gun shop has canceled a raffle of a semi-automatic rifle to benefit victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. The Chicago Tribune reports Second Amendment Sports in McHenry, Illinois, called off the raffle following questions about whether it would be legal. Under Illinois law, only nonprofit groups may hold raffles. Bert […]

Guest AuthorJune 21, 2016

The day before I jetted to Charlotte for a weeklong vacation, unspeakable ugliness ambushed the City Beautiful. First, it descended upon an Orlando nightspot where more than 300 revelers came on “Latin Night” to live “la vida loca.” Later, it crept into my bedroom. Early that Sunday at Pulse, too many fathers, mothers, sons and […]

Brendan FarringtonJune 14, 2016

As in mass shootings elsewhere, the massacre of 49 people at an Orlando nightclub is raising questions about access to guns — assault rifles, in particular. In Florida, buying one is no problem as long as you’re 18, a legal resident of the United States, aren’t a felon or a domestic abuser and have no documented […]

Tag: AR-15
A sign that reads, Gaza Solidarity Encampment, is seen during the Pro-Palestinians protest at the Columbia University campus in New York, Monday April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Takeaways from Tallahassee — A tragic dialogue

Joshua Simmons: Stop the posturing, do something about assault rifles

Gwen Graham: Rick Scott should address AR-15s or his legacy ‘will forever be covered in blood’

Bill Nelson: ‘Let’s get these assault weapons off our streets’

Florida firm pushing sales of its American-made AK-47

Bob Poe’s first TV commercial in CD 10 race takes on assault weapons

Joe Henderson: After Nice carnage, how can we prevent ‘lone wolf’ attacks?

Gun shop cancels raffle of AR-15 rifle for Orlando victims

Darryl E. Owens: The horror of wounded empathy — or when mass shootings become humdrum

Want to buy an assault rifle in Florida? No problem