Florida - Monday June 130, 2022: Democrats in the Florida Legislature say they'll continue to press for tougher gun laws, after failing to get enough support last week from their republican colleagues for a special session on the issue.
State democratic lawmakers called for the special session in the wake of the school shooting in Uvalde Texas last month that claimed the lives of 19 children and two adults. They had until 3 o'clock last Friday afternoon to convince 60-percent of state house and senate lawmakers to sign on, but they couldn't muster enough support from republican lawmakers who hold majority in both chambers.
Democratic leaders called an online news conference Friday afternoon following the missed deadline.
"We felt as if what we were asking to have a discussion about were things that are wildly popular, across the board, throughout the state of Florida, and really the entire nation," said Democratic State Representative Dan Daley. "Unfortunately, those requests fell on deaf ears."
Democratic lawmakers sought stricter regulations on high capacity rifle magazines, tougher red flag laws, and universal background checks.
When asked earlier in the week about the Special Session on gun safety, Governor DeSantis said his administration has already provided record funding for school safety and mental health. "We've done three-quarters of a billion dollars just for school security since 2019," he said. "So, we took the Stoneman Douglas recommendations and we put those into effect both with policy and with resources, and it’s made a really, really, big difference."
"We have to do something. We’re not trying to do everything," said Democratic state representative Joe Geller who made the initial call for the special session. "Every poll shows the overwhelming majority of Americans, in fact including republicans and Floridians, all support background checks. Nobody wants guns to get into the hands of people who have no business having them. Why we can’t enact a common sense measure like universal background checks, I just don't understand."
“With all due respect to these leftists," said Governor DeSantis about democrat's proposed gun reforms, "they just want to come after your second amendment rights. Lets just be honest, that’s what they want to do. They view you as a law abiding citizen of what they’re trying to do.”