By: Anthony Morelli
Ron DeSantis is going out on a huge limb.
He is taking a major political risk for the sake of gun owners.
And he is making a heroic effort to save the Second Amendment in Florida.
When the Parkland shooting happened in Florida in 2018, it naturally shocked people all across the country, and there were widespread calls to do something about it.
Unfortunately, when tragic shootings like this happen, there is little talk about practical solutions to the problem, like securing school buildings, and lots of talk about gun control.
This is in spite of the fact that securing school buildings would have a much more immediate and dramatic impact in the effort to stop school shootings than gun control measures would.
Ron DeSantis recognizes that, and he is trying to unwind the ineffective gun control measures that were passed in the wake of Parkland.
Hopefully his efforts will be followed up with effective legislation that actually adds security measures to schools throughout the state.
In either case, he is showing that he stands with the Second Amendment, even in a case like this that is very politically difficult.
WPLG Local 10 reports, “Gov. Ron DeSantis is pushing to roll back key provisions of Florida’s gun laws, including reversing red flag laws and lowering the minimum age to purchase a long gun from 21 to 18.”
“The proposed changes would undo parts of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act, a landmark law enacted in March 2018 after the Parkland school massacre.”
DeSantis is surely going to receive a lot of blowback for this effort, but that has been the case for his entire tenure as governor.
He has clearly shown that he is not afraid of being attacked by his political opponents and doesn’t back down from a fight.
The article continues, “The law, passed by a deeply conservative legislature and signed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, included gun restrictions and red flag laws that have been used 15,000 times to temporarily remove weapons from individuals deemed an immediate danger.”
“Speaking during his State of the State address, DeSantis said, ‘Look back in instances where legislation may have been passed in recent years.’”
The type of gun control measures that are typically proposed by Democrats do little to stop these types of tragedies.
As was seen during the Columbine massacre, shooters can do just as much damage using handguns, so banning so-called “assault weapons” has little effect.
Background checks might weed out the local drug dealer from buying a gun, but school shooters often don’t have criminal backgrounds and don’t fit the profile of a common criminal.
Red flag laws are rarely used to begin with, as most quiet, socially-awkward kids are not going to be school shooters, and the handful who do become school shooters typically don’t identify themselves.
That means the best way to actually stop these shootings from happening is to implement measures to keep these shooters from even getting into the building in the first place.
Hopefully that is next on Gov. DeSantis’s agenda.