Gun advocates win victories in Fla. House, Senate

TALLAHASSEE —

— Florida gun rights activists’ had a victorious day in the Capitol as the Republican-controlled Legislature considered two St. Petersburg lawmakers’ bills, passing one through the Senate and shooting down the other.

The Senate endorsed a bill allowing lawful gun owners to carry a weapon while evacuating in an emergency, even if they don’t have a concealed carry permit. Later in the day, a House panel voted down a Democrat’s proposal to set more limits on shooting a gun on residential property.

In a legislative session that has involved long discussions about the role firearms should play on public school and college campuses and in the wake of a natural disaster, the Senate’s concealed carry legislation was the first gun bill to pass either chamber. It gained support from all 25 Republicans and four of the 14 Democrats.

Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes, who sponsored the bill, and other supporters argue that allowing concealed carry of weapons in the first 48 hours after a mandatory evacuation is necessary so gun owners aren’t arrested on felony charges, something they say happened in Louisiana as people fled Hurricane Katrina. Carrying a gun, they say, is preferable to leaving it at home, where it could be stolen by looters.

“This is about this incredibly rare instance, this incredibly tailored instance, when people are fleeing for their lives,” Brandes said on the floor Tuesday. “And yet Florida statute today says if they take that weapon with them and they carry it in a certain manner, they can be charged with a third-degree felony.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article16202144.html

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The Gun Shine State lives up to its name!!!