(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Families of gun shooting victims are hoping for some preventive measures from FL Legislature [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- January'] Date: 2024-01-26 Karel Boonstoppel is hopeful that there can be some sort of meaningful legislation posed at either the federal, state or even local level to prevent gun shootings like the one that led to the death of his 20-year-old son, Harrison, last October in Tampa. “We need to do something. Okay?” Boonstoppel was speaking on a Zoom conference call on Friday led by Tampa Bay area Democratic Congresswoman Kathy Castor and Florida Democratic House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell to discuss the issue of gun violence in Florida. Harrison Boonstoppel was shot and killed in Tampa’s Ybor City on Halloween weekend last year by a 14-year-old teenager. One other person was killed, and 16 others were wounded in the incident on Oct. 29. While Florida law prevents local governments from implementing any gun regulations, the Tampa City Council has been contemplating implementing a curfew in Ybor City to address gun violence in that entertainment district but postponed taking up a vote on Thursday. Also speaking out against gun violence on Friday was Johnny Johnson, whose 17-year-old son Jayquon was killed in a gun shooting in Hillsborough County on New Years Day in 2017. Johnson was in Tallahassee earlier this week urging lawmakers to pass a bill (HB 1087 and SB 1250) that would subject motorists to a second-degree misdemeanor for failing to keep their firearms locked up in their car. Those bills have yet to be scheduled in any committee, however, much to the consternation of Driskell. “Every year, Democrats file good, common sense gun ownership reforms, but they are always ignored,” she said in the Zoom press conference. It should be noted, however, that there are some bills that would expand the rights of gun owners in Florida that have also stalled in the first part of the 2024 Florida legislative session. One is a bill (HB 1619) by Hillsborough County Republican Rep. Mike Beltran that would allow people to openly carry firearms in Florida. The measure would also allow lawmakers to carry concealed guns to legislative meetings and in the state Capitol building. House and Senate GOP leaders have not shown any enthusiasm about scheduling the bill, but Second Amendment groups are pressing Gov. Ron DeSantis to back what is known simply as “open carry.” The state chapter of Gun Owners of America sent an email to its followers this week, calling on them to press DeSantis to endorse the proposal. “Florida’s gun owners are not fools and we don’t become easily tamed with cheap table scraps thrown our way. We demand a full restoration of our rights,” reads a section of the letter penned by Luis Valdes, the Florida state director of Gun Owners of America. A proposal (HB 1233) that would lower the age to legally purchase a firearm in Florida from 21 to 18 has been introduced in the Florida House but hasn’t been heard in any committee so far. The measure would repeal a provision of the 2018-gun safety package passed by the Legislature in the immediate wake of the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, in Broward County. However, another provision from that law that does have the backing of DeSantis is a proposal to repeal the three-day waiting period to purchase rifles and other long guns (SB 1124 and HB 17). Neither the House nor the Senate bill has been heard in any committees yet. However, Gov. DeSantis did say in a townhall event in Iowa earlier this month that he supports the proposal, saying, “I think the background checks should be instant.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/01/26/families-of-gun-shooting-victims-are-hoping-for-some-preventive-measures-from-fl-legislature/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/