Last night Florida Rep. Darryl Rouson entered House Bill 623 to put a stop to residential gun ranges.
An act relating to weapons or firearms; amending s. 2 790.15, F.S.; prohibiting any discharge of a firearm 3 on residential property, regardless of whether the 4 discharge occurs outdoors or in a reckless or 5 negligent manner; providing criminal penalties; 6 providing an effective date. 7 8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 9 10 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 790.15, Florida 11 Statutes, is amended to read: 12 790.15 Discharging firearm in public or on residential 13 property.
The language is simple and does not conflict with Stand Your Ground or "infringe" on any citizen's right to "bear arms." We are now pushing to find a senate sponsor. The local media is all over this, and this AM we made the news in the
UK Daily News.
Due to Florida laws restricting local communities from forming their own gun laws, his plan was entirely legal.
This is thanks to
FL statute 790.33, signed into law by Governor Rick Scott in 2011, with this language:
790.33 Field of regulation of firearms and ammunition preempted.—
(1) PREEMPTION.—Except as expressly provided by the State Constitution or general law, the Legislature hereby declares that it is occupying the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition, including the purchase, sale, transfer, taxation, manufacture, ownership, possession, storage, and transportation thereof, to the exclusion of all existing and future county, city, town, or municipal ordinances or any administrative regulations or rules adopted by local or state government relating thereto. Any such existing ordinances, rules, or regulations are hereby declared null and void.
Knowing Scott signed the above, it makes his reply to my neighbor yesterday a bit, well, perplexing? ironic? laughable? confused? because it reads, in part:
Our government is structured on the notion that local communities can best assess the needs of their residents. Voters elect local officials to manage local government business and make decisions about code enforcement. Those with concerns about the location of a private or public gun range should consult with local code enforcement, law enforcement and local government.
Uh huh. If that's true, why "pre-empt" all local attempts, much less provide for harsh penalties to local officials, cops, prosecutors, etc. who dare try to deal with the issue?
Sigh.
In any event, while studying this issue further, I found a RAND Corp. study that ties this issue in a terrifying way with standards set by the NYC Police Department. Please follow over and let me know if I'm just crazy for finding any linkage.
Not too long ago, the NYPD asked the RAND Corporation to study the effectiveness of its firearm training program. This article explains the background and its findings.
Why did this resonate to me, a neighbor concerned about Florida allowing outdoor gun ranges in residential areas, with NO regulation? It was this nugget:
The NYPD Police Academy trains, approximately 4,000 recruits each year in two classes of about 2,000 recruits each. Included are two weeks of firearm and tactical training that includes handgun qualification. A minimum of 78 percent hits on a number of stationary targets from fixed firing positions is required to qualify.
There also are semiannual firearm qualifications which include a two-part lecture, practice fire of 45 rounds of ammunition at stationary targets at 7-, 15-, and 25-yard distances, un-scored practice on a tactical pistol course, and qualification firing of 50 rounds at stationary targets at 7-, 15-, and 25-yard distances. A minimum of 39 hits is required to qualify (78 percent).
You get that? To pass the shooting qualification as a cop in the New York City Police Department, you get to miss STATIONARY TARGETS 22% of the time. If that's good enough for the nation's largest police force, we can't expect our private citizen neighbors to be any better. Do Florida legislators expect that Florida recreational shooters are perfect? What happens if our neighbors only possess that same 78% level of proficiency? I can tell you with our little target that was torn down Wednesday, if the shooter had missed there it was going into the home behind the target.
Think about that next time you decide to head to FL to hit the beach, or maybe go to Universal Studio's Harry Potter world, or Disney World. Our neighborhoods are shooting galleries as the law currently reads unless the state politicians act in favor is House Bill 623.
Today I called both Senator Brandesand Senator Latvalaasking for their support, and whether they intended to enter a companion bill into the Senate. Essentially, they are my neighbors here in Saint Petersburg and we are hopeful they'll do the simple, sane thing. I mean, it should be a no brainer since the NRA's former president Marion Hammer is on record about this issue:
The pro-gun Hammer added, “How anyone rational person could think that this makeshift shooting range is legal or safe is a mystery to me.”
That should be pretty good political cover. Let's hope
no one else dies in the meantime while this bill makes it way through the process and under the ink of Governor Scott's pen.
Please help us keep up the pressure. Sign and share the petition follow me on twitter @frontyardgun to keep up with developments.
Thank you,
Patrick Leary aka pajoly
8:47 AM PT: I just got off the phone with Senator Brandes's office. They called me back. I was told the Senator is in discussions with colleagues to clarify the language in the existing law so law enforcement no longer is cowed into inaction because of FL statute 790.33. He is not in 100% agreement with the language of HB623, so he'll not be entering a companion bill in the Senate. He is in general agreement with the goal. We will keep up the pressure -- with your help -- and keep you informed.