It "isn't going to happen," he declares, despite legislative backing for a bill to shield ranges from lead pollution lawsuits.
By CRAIG PITTMAN and STEVE BOUSQUET
Published February 14, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush on Friday shot down a legislative effort to grant blanket immunity to gun ranges for pollution caused by lead bullets.
"Blanket liability protection isn't going to happen," Bush said during a news conference. "Is that clear enough?"
However, Bush said he is open to finding some compromise on the measure, which has been pushed by the National Rifle Association and won overwhelming support from lawmakers.
The bill would make 400 gun ranges immune from government lawsuits over pollution, even if the contamination were deliberate. It would apply retroactively to cases already in the courts.
The bill was sparked partly by a state lawsuit against Skyway Trap and Skeet Club of Pinellas Park, where environmental regulators say lead pellets from 60 years of target practice have contaminated soil and water. The suit would go away if the bill becomes law.
Supporters of the measure say the state is using its environmental power over gun ranges as a form of gun control.
"The bully boys of government have no business using their power, and their resources, to put little guys out of business," NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer told the House Judiciary Committee in December.
So far legislative committees in both the House and Senate have approved the bill by a wide margin, despite objections from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the Sierra Club.
