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Reckless gun bill defeated

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published April 20, 2007

A reckless progun bill was defeated in the Florida House on Wednesday despite arguments that a vote was inappropriate just two days after the Virginia Tech tragedy. Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, had hoped to delay debate, saying the subject matter was "highly inappropriate" considering media coverage of the massacre, in which a disturbed student named Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 classmates and faculty members. The bill, which would have denied employers the right to ban guns from cars in company parking lots, was rejected by a key House committee and is likely gone for this session.

It was one of the more lucid moments in Tallahassee, where lawmakers can wind up casting votes based more on the influence of lobbyists than real-world realities. Any action that slows the proliferation of deadly weapons in inappropriate settings has to be seen as respectful of the Virginia Tech victims. Some lawmakers who opposed the bill said they were motivated by the property-rights issue rather than recent events. Gov. Charlie Crist, however, put the matter in proper context: "How can you not be impacted at least on some level by as horrific a tragedy as that was in our country?"

While defeat of this legislation may not prevent the next workplace or school shooting, it certainly takes a stand against the ubiquity of guns with increasingly deadly firepower in our communities. That is why some of the most respected businesses in the state opposed the bill.

"It's a matter of safety from our standpoint," said Derek Bruce, a lobbyist for Walt Disney World, which prohibits employees from bringing firearms onto park property. "We want to have a safe workplace and a safe place for people to come and visit."

No doubt the NRA will bring the bill back next year. No doubt NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer will continue to make such ridiculous assertions as, "This bill is about staying alive to get to work and staying alive to get home from work." Floridians don't need to carry guns to get to and from work safely. And whether the next debate is over property rights, protecting the next innocent victims or standing up to the bullying gun lobby, all will be sufficient justification for continuing to oppose this bad bill.

[Last modified April 20, 2007, 01:04:42]