By: Ashleigh Meyer
Florida continues to take center stage in the gun control debate, and Florida Senate President Bill Galvano has vowed to increase gun control in the upcoming legislative session, which will begin in January.
There is no question that the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School rocked the Sunshine State and made many people receptive to gun control legislation. Galvano himself is a Republican and has long been in favor of more intense background checks and expanding the state’s red flag laws, which were enacted after the Parkland shooting. Republican Sen. Marco Rubio has indicated that he supports increased background checks, banning “bump stocks,” and limiting magazine size.
“We definitely need to revisit the red flag law and see if there are ways that we can expand it within the parameters of the law to make it more effective,” Galvano said in an interview. “It’s been utilized successfully many, many times and I do think that expanded background checks are something that we should take a very, very serious look at and not dismiss out of the gate.”
Galvano is particularly interested in tweaking the language in Florida’s red flag legislation to allow individuals to identify relatives they believe to be at risk of carrying out violent acts, and petition for the removal of their weapons. A new report showed that several individuals who have been “flagged” under the red flag laws have been minors who are unable to purchase firearms in the first place.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been endorsed by President Trump and has signed off on legislation allowing certain teachers to carry guns in schools. He’s also stated that he would’ve vetoed the restrictive legislation passed after the Parkland shooting, had he been governor at the time.
Congress was expected to act on gun legislation in the coming term and has taken a lot of public pressure to do so. They are now, however, fully engrossed in their latest impeachment attempt, and it isn’t looking like they will be accomplishing much of anything regarding guns for the time being.
Ashleigh Meyer is a professional writer and a freelance Conservative political analyst from Virginia.