By: D.J. Parten

Americans nationwide are concerned about their safety after such a tumultuous year.

In fact, the National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates that approximately 6.9 million people bought a gun for the first time in 2020.

This is not surprising considering spineless politicians continue to cave to the violent demands of the radical left, allowing literal mob rule in many instances.

Unfortunately, the law often allows for this violent and reckless behavior.

On May 31st, the mayor of West Palm Beach declared a state of emergency in response to civil unrest and, in doing so, automatically banned both the sale and possession of firearms.

Florida law not only allowed him to do this but it mandates that firearms cannot be sold in the city or possessed “in a public place” because he declared this emergency.

At the time, gun store owner Alex Shkop told The Palm Beach Post, “The order doesn’t protect anybody because if somebody wants to get something they can go less than two miles away.”

In the same article, The Palm Beach Post reports:

By 11 a.m. Friday, Adam Golden already took 15 calls turning away potential customers.

“(It’s) crippling,” said Golden, managing partner of Baba Boom Guns, which has an office on South Olive Avenue. “How can you go a week without pay?”

But the impact on private businesses isn’t the worst part of this Emergency Gun Ban law.

Law-abiding citizens who are victimized in a riot are not allowed to carry a firearm for self-defense in a state of emergency like this!

State Representative Anthony Sabatini just filed legislation to change all that.

House Bill 6005 would repeal Section 870.044 of the Florida Statutes completely eliminating this dangerous law.

“Law-abiding citizens should be able to defend themselves against violent criminals. That is especially true during a riot,” Sabatini said of his decision to file this bill. “The Legislature must act quickly to repeal this clearly unconstitutional law.”

In addition to his desire to protect law-abiding gun owners, Sabatini also expressed concern for local overreach on this matter.

“Local governments will use any disturbance whatsoever as an excuse to declare an “emergency” and suspend the Second Amendment,” Sabatini warns.

This kind of action would not be surprising as numerous cities have sued the State of Florida hoping to overturn the law that forbids them from passing gun control ordinances at the local level.

As Gov. DeSantis and the Legislature look to protect Floridians from violence, they would be wise to support Sabatini’s legislation and repeal the Emergency Gun Ban law.

D.J. Parten is the Executive Director of Florida Gun Rights and the Senior Regional Director for the National Association for Gun Rights.

Photo from Facebook.