Fields: Guns In The House…Not To Mention The Senate
BY SAM FIELDS
Guest Columnist
Fresh from crushing the Dems in November, the Florida Legislature is being flooded with bills to make buying, selling and carrying handguns easier than getting a latte at Starbucks.
Before I get to the hypocrisy of these bills I do want to take special note of SB 432. It would make it a felony for a physician to ask a patient or his family about guns in the house.
This was filed by Panhandle state Sen. Greg Evers, a Good Ol’ Boy Republican farmer who never saw a gun law he couldn’t gut or a gun he couldn’t love.
I can imagine this conversation if Evers’ bill passes:
“So doc, I got nailed for bank robbery, what are you doing time for? Medicare fraud, pushin‘ oxies?
“Nah. The cops found out I asked the parents of a paranoid- schizophrenic patient if he was packin’ heat.
The rest of the bills this session guarantee people the right to carry concealed weapons “just about everywhere they currently can‘t, such as college campuses.
I say “just about because there is one continuing, glaring and notable exception to where you still won’t be allowed to bring a gun—government buildings. Most notably the Florida House, Senate and the Governor’s Mansion. Or the Broward Government Center. Or the School Board headquarters.
Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. As long as both are shot and cooked well done.
If there earlier “Guns in the Workplace laws are good enough for the McDonald’s fry area why are they not good enough for the floors and galleries of the Legislature?
Why do legislators and governors insist on setting up no gun zones for themselves? It impinges on my First and Second Amendment rights. After all, a lobbyist and a gun will get your redress further than a lobbyist alone.
I am pretty sure it would shorten, not to mention friendly up, the floor speeches.
I for one would be impressed if they eliminated all the security checkpoints in government buildings beginning with the Governor’s Mansion and the legislature.
But I ain’t holding my breath.
(Personal Disclosure: Years ago I worked for a handgun control group in Washington. I no longer feel the same way about the issue. Further I have never lived a day in a home without a gun of some type.)
January 26th, 2011 at 10:24 am
You forgot about the bill yesterday that would grant a sales tax holiday on the sale of firearms on Oct 1 & 2 of this year!
The loons have taken over Tallahassee.
January 26th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
The previous post by Ann could be misleading. A bill was filed, not passed.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
I’m seeing some Rosie O’Donnell hypocrisy in Sam.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Am I reading this right or is Sam proposing that guns be legal in the courthouse, which is a government building? Sam, watch out. Some of your criminal clients might pull out a gun and shoot you when you lose a case. I wonder if you will finally yell, “Oh, God?”