Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Peter SchorschMarch 2, 2018

Lehigh Acres Republican Rep. Matt Caldwell said Thursday that retailers are within their rights to pull guns from their shelves, but consumers who don’t favor such policies can vote with their dollars. “The Citizens United case confirmed that the 1st Amendment protects everyone’s free speech, both individuals and corporations like Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart. […]

Drew WilsonFebruary 27, 2018

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham sent out an email Tuesday attacking Republican foe Ron DeSantis for his silence in the post-Parkland policy debate. While DeSantis was the target, Gov. Rick Scott and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who is also running as a GOP candidate for governor, weren’t spared in the “Sound of Silence Alert.” “Governor […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 25, 2018

A group supporting a wave of first-time candidates for elected office took out a full-page ad in the Sunday edition of the Sun-Sentinel calling on Floridians to run against NRA-backed state lawmakers in 2018. The Run for Something ad states “The NRA is killing our kids” at the top and then includes an sheet with […]

Guest AuthorFebruary 23, 2018

The most important and unregrettable time of my life was the 12 years I spent in the Army. I became a bomb technician because I wanted to save lives. I nearly gave my own life for that — I lost both my legs and a finger when a roadside bomb detonated beneath me — and […]

Washington PostFebruary 23, 2018

The governor is planning to roll out his legislative proposal Friday that, according to a spokesman, will be “aimed at keeping Florida schools safe and keeping firearms out of the hands of mentally ill people.” With Florida now at the epicenter of a fast-changing national gun debate, the state’s Republican governor is so far refusing […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 22, 2018

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As the push for gun control measures grips the state of Florida, attention has turned to the positions of Northeast Florida Republicans. Despite the carnage in Parkland, and the unprecedented activism in its wake, Republicans in the Jacksonville region aren’t evolving on the matter of assault weapons bans. The latest example: 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa […]

Scott PowersFebruary 22, 2018

If the crowd at Wednesday night’s gun discussion at the BB&T Center in Sunrise was indicative of more than just a normally Democratic community now suffering from one of the most horrific school massacres in history, then Republicans such as U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and staunch 2nd Amendment advocates can find little place there. In […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 21, 2018

The National Rifle Association endorsed Lenny Curry for Jacksonville Mayor in 2015, yet when we asked Curry about NRA support, he said he wasn’t in “100 percent alignment” with donors and supporters on Wednesday. “Not issue specific. Any supporter, any donor, any endorser, you’re not going to have 100 percent alignment on,” Curry said at a […]

A.G. GancarskiFebruary 20, 2018

The race between incumbent U.S. Rep. Al Lawson and former Jacksonville Mayor Alvin Brown, as of this week, is focused on the issue of guns. On Monday, Brown’s team found daylight between Lawson’s post-Parkland assertion “decrying ‘the stranglehold of the gun lobby'” and taking $2,500 from the political action committee of the National Rifle Association in August 2017. […]

Peter SchorschFebruary 19, 2018

Parkland High School is not in Gary Farmer’s state Senate district. No children from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School live in his district. But … Farmer lived in Parkland for a decade and, as degrees of separation would have it, his family is closely connected to several of those who were directly and tragically impacted […]

Tag: National Rifle Association

Matt Caldwell takes issue with retailers ‘caving’ on guns

Email insights: Gwen Graham slams Ron DeSantis for ‘sounds of silence’

Run for Something ad highlights unopposed Florida lawmakers with NRA ties

Brian Mast: I appreciate assault weapons. And I support a ban

Rick Scott stays in sync with the NRA as he faces a reckoning on guns

For prominent Jacksonville Republicans, it’s impossible to buck the NRA

CNN Parkland town hall crowd expresses powerful gun-control message

About NRA backing, Lenny Curry isn’t ‘100 percent aligned’ with donors, supporters

On guns, Al Lawson is not an orthodox Democrat

Gary Farmer’s moment