Ok the scuttlebutt is that Steube doesn't think there is enough support on his committee at the moment.  My personal translation is that means the Ds are obviously out and the Rs don't want to touch it right now because airport.  It's a good move; if it dies now it goes nowhere.  He has until April to let things calm down.

Rs are 5 out of 9; he needs all of them.  They said it would help if we gave the Rs (3 out of 4 are women) on his Judiciary committee a pep talk  It's not over yet; there is no downside to him hearing the bill - he's trying to wait until all these "R"s on board.
https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S27
https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S39
https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S36
https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S17

Or he is lying.  Which I doubt.  Either way the best we can do is call the committee members and get them to vote yea.

I'm hoping Modern-Musket will chime in here....

Thread in the NRA Activism Forum

Sen. Steube's office gave me the same line as RINO_Hunter 

So here is the deal.

Sen. Steube's Office stated that the Good Senator is still on board for open carry but the problem he is now facing is the Committee Members. There are nine total (counting Sen Steube) and out of the eight other members. Four of them are Republican. We know automatically that the three Democrat Members won't vote in favor. So the problem is with the four other Republicans members. They are currently not in favor of supporting SB-140. 

Chair:Senator Greg Steube(R)
Vice Chair:Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R)

• Senator Anitere Flores (R) 
  
• Senator Rene Garcia (R)
• Senator Debbie Mayfield (R) 
  
• Senator Bobby Powell (D)
• Senator Perry E. Thurston, Jr. (D)
• Senator Audrey Gibson (D)
• Senator Randolph Bracy (D)

That's a 5/4 split in our favor. This should be a cake walk. Five Republicans members means the Democrats aren't even an issue. In theory this shouldn't even be an issue. But here we have four Republicans that are not currently in favor of strengthening and further securing the 2nd Amendment.

Here are the four turncoats that are currently selling our rights down river.

Vice Chair of the Florida Senate Judiciary Committee: Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R)

https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S27

District Office
2310 First Street Unit 305 
Fort Myers, FL 33901
(239) 338-2570

Tallahassee Office
400 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100 
(850) 487-5027

Senator Anitere Flores (R) 

https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S39

District Office
10691 North Kendall Dr. Suite 309 
Miami, FL 33176 
(305) 270-6550

Tallahassee Office
404 Senate Office Building
404 South Monroe Street 
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
 (850) 487-5039

Senator Rene Garcia (R)

District Office 
1490 West 68th Street Suite 201 
Hialeah, FL 33014
 (305) 364-3100 
FAX (305) 364-3110

Tallahassee Office
310 Senate Office Building 
404 South Monroe Street 
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100 
(850) 487-5036

Senator Debbie Mayfield (R)

https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S17

District Office 900 E. Strawbridge Avenue 
Melbourne, FL 32901 
(321) 409-2025

Satellite Office
1801 27th Street 
Vero Beach, FL 32960 
(772) 226-1970

Tallahassee Office 
324 Senate Office Building 
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
 (850) 487-5017


So in plain English..... we have four Republican State Senators and Senator Steube (Author of the Open Carry Bill) that are looking at standing between 1.69 million citizens and the restoration of their rights. Politically speaking it is a good move for the Anti-2nd Amendment Forces since the Democrats would never have touched it and if the Republicans won't touch it right now. SB-140 is dead if it cannot get out of committee. 

Everything says right now that the four Republican committee members told Steube off the record that they are anti gun and will not vote for the bill. We need to hammer these four Republicans. Call every office, email them, fax them, snail mail them. Go in person if you can!

I am really starting to think that it might be time to bypass these jerks and go ballot amendment.

I'm sick this, "Oh gee, we tried real hard, but gosh darnit, the committees we populated will kill it, so we're not even going to have them vote on it." over and over again.  But don't forget to vote Republican next election!

What they're doing here is giving these four anti-gun committee members the "well I didn't even get a chance to vote for it in committee because it was withdrawn," cover.  Putting it to a vote in committee and losing because of their votes is something we can point at the voters who're pro-gun and didn't realize their state Senator was selling them out.

I'll bet that Lucy lets us kick the ball next time, for sure!  Or my name isn't Charlie Brown!

At this point it's clear that it's all been theater, deception and coverup.

Exactly.... by not having it go to vote in committee. It saves these four GOP Senators from having a record of voting against the 2nd Amendment when they do nothing but campaign as being pro 2nd Amendment. 

This is the common tactic that I've seen in the FL Government. They campaign on certain issues yet go against it in ways that don't tarnish their voting records. 

Tomorrow I'm going to the committee and I'm going to bring the issue up. I will flat ot confront these four so called Pro 2nd Amendment Republicans.

At this point the only answer is to let them all know in no uncertain terms that if they don't support our open carry rights we will vote these turncoat out of office.

No more three card monte, or find the pea under the cup  bullshit from them.

Chair:Senator Greg Steube(R) 

Vice Chair:Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto (R)Senator Anitere Flores (R)  

Senator Rene Garcia (R)Senator Debbie Mayfield (R)  

Senator Bobby Powell (D)Senator Perry E. Thurston, Jr. (D)Senator Audrey Gibson (D)Senator Randolph Bracy (D)

I will make it my mission in life to destroy them. Anyone that tries to restrict or rights or worse.... play this bullshit "Lucy with the football" game will be my political enemy. I will donate every penny to their rivals and I will vote them out of office. I will campaign against them. I'm very damn close to throwing my name in the ring. But I don't want to drag my wife into the mud pit. 

@Miami_JBT

(^^^test^^^)

Agreed, on all accounts and for what it's worth, your have my vote.

Thanks Brother.... I'll fill you in

Also it worked. 

Give them a pressure release valve.

We all know Sen Steube will schedule it at the very least, at the last minute.  He doesn't have anything to lose at that point.

The R Senators are in the hot seat either way.  Explain to them that they can vote against it on the floor, just please pass it along to the floor as is the purpose of the committee.

It's like they are confusing the purpose of committee votes v floor votes.  Remind them it will look way worse if they vote nea in committee v floor as their four votes are super concentrated.

Thanks for all you do Miami_JBT.

I'm just one man.... that's sick and tired of the bullshit games. Either we get OC and Campus Carry or we don't. I wanted elected officials that claim to be and campaign as being pro gun to but their money where their mouths are. Simple as that.

A vote will record said action.

Fucking Media....

Open carry' has no place in a civil society | Sun Sentinel dated 1-23-2017

I bet you those four GOPe Cucks read that yesterday.

The 45 states that allow open carry are uncivilized places where the people live in fear due to the blood flowing in the streets.

Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto was rated A+ by the NRA in 2014.



We need to put her feet to the fire. 



Senator Anitere Flores is a threat. She is one of three Republican Senators that sided with the Democrats to call for a Special Session after the Fort Lauderdale Airport Terror Attack.

She stated the following.

"WE SEE NOW, WITH THIS LATEST ATTACK, THAT WE NEED TO TAKE A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT GUN LAWS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND FIND THE BEST WAY TO BALANCE THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE TO OWN GUNS VERSUS PUBLIC SAFETY."



Senator Rene Garcia was the reason why the January 10 meeting was cancelled. He could not make it. He also has abstained from voting in favor of a Special Session instead of voting against it. He's a threat. He is in favor of more Welfare and Public Health Care.



Senator Debbie Mayfield is a RINO. She's a threat. Her campaign site says she's a trusted conservative that will fight for the 2nd Amendment. Let's see if she keeps her word.

So in order of political alignment with firearms rights we have:

Sen. Steube: yea b/c author of bill
Sen. Benacquisto: yea b/c A+ NRA rating and previous voting history: Link
Sen. Mayfield: yea because of voting history in the House: Link
Sen. Garcia: not very favorable due to iffy voting history on firearms rights: Link
Sen. Flores: least favorable- siding with commies on ISIS airport murders and did not support burden of proof for state in self-defense cases Link

By that count we have three solid votes.  Only two people are standing between a million+ people and their rights?  By abusing their position of power?  Only in America can they get away with this scot-free.

Garcia and Flores need some pressure.  They need not vote in favor on the floor, just to get it through committee.

Senator Anitere Flores (R) is why it is dead. Just spoke with her secretary Tiffany of the Miami District Office  and ask her if Senator Flores backs Senate Bill 140. Tiffany said it she does not back it and will not vote for it.

We should ask if she is confused as to when to vote her opinion of the bill.  Committee or floor?

ETA: I have to call to understand the logic of her thought process.  My questions will go something like this:

Will Sen. Flores vote yea in committee?
Why not?
Isn't the floor the appropriate area to vote opinion?  Is committee not a procedural vote only?
If not, why would she get to vote twice, then?  Why not have committee votes recorded as already counted on the floor?

Sometimes I wonder if these people even understand how their actions = tyranny.

ETA2: That went better than expected with Tiffany.  I asked if Sen. Flores would consider voting in favor in committee as a procedural yea only; then voting to kill it on the floor.

Tiffany said she is unsure of that possibility and will call me back.

Senator Anitere Flores (R) is why it is dead. Just spoke with her secretary Tiffany of the Miami District Office  and asked her if Senator Flores backs Senate Bill 140. Tiffany said that Sen. Flores does not back it and will not vote for it.  Her secretary in her Tallahassee Office said "the Senator does not have an opinion yet and is currently reviewing the bill and how if affects Floridans." She also told me that she's just an intern. 

Sounds like Secretary Tiffany let the cat out of the bag!

Open Carry was dead before it even started this year. 



Sen. Greg Steube needed four Republican votes to override the four Democrats. Sen. Flores is the turncoat traitor. Another year of Florida Gun Rights destroyed by a Republican.

Senator Anitere Flores (R)  

https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/S39 

District Office  
10691 North Kendall Dr. Suite 309  
Miami, FL 33176  
(305) 270-6550 

Tallahassee Office  
404 Senate Office Building  
404 South Monroe Street  
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100 
 (850) 487-5039 

Senator Anitere Flores is a threat to Florida Gun Rights. She is one of three Republican Senators that sided with the Democrats to call for a Special Session after the Fort Lauderdale Airport Terror Attack. 

She stated the following. 

"WE SEE NOW, WITH THIS LATEST ATTACK, THAT WE NEED TO TAKE A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT GUN LAWS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND FIND THE BEST WAY TO BALANCE THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE TO OWN GUNS VERSUS PUBLIC SAFETY." 

This kind of shit makes me want to say "fuck it, I'll run for office and get the damn thing passed".


ETA:  Anybody know what the latest on Norman v. State is?

I'm in route to the Capitol right now.

Good luck and God speed.

I'm serious as a heart attack though.  If not run, then come on board someone's legislative staff and shake some sense into these fair weather morons.

See if you can meet w/ Flores' team to get a procedural yea committee vote out of her.  If she does, Garcia would probably get on board with the other four Rs and get it through Judiciary.  Might help to get him to agree to a procedural vote first, now that I think about it...

I'm currently in the Toni Jennings Committee Room, 110 Senate Office Building for the 2pm Committee meeting. Right now SB-140 is not on the agenda but if I get a chance to speak, I will bring it up. What is up is SB-128. The bill that would fix Stand Your Ground Law after it was gutted by the FLSC.

This place is crawling with Red Shirted Moms Demand Action types. 

Sen. Flores is laughing and playing with her phone during Stand Your Ground. She's also conferencing with Democrat Thurston and Bracy. 

0

Flores hobnobbing with the Democrats

Okay where to start.....

They were hard on keeping to the agenda. Flores and Gracia voted in favor of SB 128 ( stand your ground). Marion Hammer and Florida Carry were there. So were a shit ton of Red Shirted Leftists. Also one fat flannel pajama wearing neckbeard that said stand your ground was racist and he was a white dude.  He also said he would primary out those that voted in favor of stand your ground. 

Afterwards I went to each office.

Steube is getting the calls and emails. Alex Blair the Legislative Assistant for Steube is as he put it. Trying to control the fire storm. Which is good.... that means people are pissed and want SB-140. He said that there's four more weeks of committee meetings and Steube is trying to formulate a plan of attack to get it past. Either he will have it passed as a unanimous bill which is its current form or he will break it up into individual items. So one bill for open carry, another bill for campus carry, another bill for airport carry, etc... unofficially and off-the-cuff. He stated the two holdouts is Flores and Garcia. We need to focus our attentions on them.

I then went to Flores office to thank her for passing stand your ground and reiterated that she needs to pass SB 140. I brought up Tiffany from the Miami office and explained to the staff and asked what is Flores official position. They gave no comment.

Same with Garcia. I thank him for passing stand your ground and reader rated that he needs to pass SB 140. No comment. 

Lastly I went to Bradley's office just to thank him for SB 128 stand your ground and also asked him to please vote for SB 140 and support it when it hits the floor. 

I have to say Florida carry put a very good argument for stand your ground and they are fighting hard for open carry. Marion Hammer was rambling and incoherent. She just doesn't have the spunk in her anymore she's too old.


Once again everything is hinging on Flores and Garcia. They are the two roadblocks to this.

Thanks for the update.  

One major potential problem to splitting the bills is giving negron a chance to send them to criminal justice for review.  Bracy heads that right?  He could kill it by not scheduling it.

What's it feel like with Garcia and Flores?  Any read on how they're processing it?  Is SYG vote indicative that they could get on board or too unrelated?

Was Eric Friday there?  He's my hero.

Eta:  how does public input work?  can anyone say a few words about a  bill at committee?

Yeah, Bracy runs Criminal last I checked. Negron could fuck us. But its a risk. Right now if Flores and Garcia don't change its dead.

My feel is Flores and Garcia passed SYG because it gives them a Pro 2nd Amendment notch on their voting record without actually expanding anything. All SB 128 does is move the burden of proof back to the prosecution. Which I'm all in favor of and I do believe we sure as hell need it. But it isn't an expansion of rights. It is just a correction from the fuck up that is the FL Supreme Court.

My feeling is that Garcia and Flores don't give a fuck and won't support SB 140. They got their Pro 2nd Amendment quota with SYG.


Eric Friday was there and he kicked as for SYG. Marion Hammer was like a sad sack of expired assholes. She needs to go. We need fresh blood in there but she's heavily entrenched. 

As for public comments. You complete a form, out if you're for or against, and hand it to the staff. The chair then reviews them and decides if he will allot time. Steube did. I get them off the Senate Websiteas a PDF and print them up all fancy. The Moms Demand Action fat sacks of failure use the hand written ones plaed on a desk by the entrance and clog the entrance to the committee room like a double cheese burger in my aorta. 

The astroturfed grouos never have anything prepared properly. They're all sloppy as fuck.

News is already reporting of Steube's plan to break it up. 

Senate plans to break up major gun bill - News4Jax 


"Just from feeling the tea leaves, it's probably better to attack it piece by piece," Steube said after a Judiciary Committee meeting. "The House doesn't have a bill that has all those different (parts)." 

When Steube's proposal is broken up, potentially into as many as 10 parts, Senate President Joe Negron will have to refer each proposal to a series of committee appearances.

Steube said campus-carry, which he sponsored in the House, and the airport-terminal proposal would be his top priorities."Given what's happened at Fort Lauderdale airport, that's important to me," Steube said, alluding to a recent mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.Steube's measure was scheduled to first go before the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 10, but the meeting was canceled as one Republican member --- Sen. Rene Garcia of Hialeah --- wasn't going to be in attendance. Including Steube and Garcia, the committee is comprised of five Republicans and four Democrats.

Steube's comments Tuesday came after a Second Amendment website claimed that the open-carry legislation is being held up by Republican members of the committee."Theoretically. This should be a cake walk," the website The Truth About Guns said Monday in an article called "Florida Open Carry On Life Support."

"Five Republicans members means the Democrats aren't even an issue," The Truth About Guns continued. "But here we have four Republicans that aren't currently in favor of strengthening and further securing the 2nd Amendment in Florida."

Meanwhile, influential National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer said Tuesday prior to the committee meeting that she isn't worried about Steube's proposal."If I were worried, you would have seen me blast out an alert," Hammer said when asked about the bill as currently written. 


I don't think we'll get Open Carry this year. And of course Marion Hammer doesn't give a fuck.

Now that it is being reported in multiple sources that it is being broken up. Lets see what sticks to the wall. 

A member over the FSN stated this....

"I met Flores back in her college days at FIU. I got into a debate with her about the second amendment. She did not support concealed carry back then (yes, actual concealed carry with a permit). I doubt her personal opinions have changed as she also does not seem to instinctively believe in the second amendment, except maybe as much as she needs to be when she wishes to be re-elected."


Reminds me of Marco Rubio when he was a nobody in West Miami Politics.

Former NRA President Marion Hammer states: Marco Rubio Wasn't 'a Friend to Gun Owners' in FL

In one such report, published in 2010, former NRA president Marion Hammer said Rubio “has not been a friend to gun owners.”Hammer was reflecting on the difficultly that attended the passage of a bill guaranteeing employees the ability to keep guns in their cars at work for self-defense.According to Politico, Hammer described Rubio as a man who talked pro-gun when the cameras were rolling but worked in ways that hurt the bill’s chances of passage behind the scenes. Hammer said, “He has not been a friend to gun owners. He tried to cover himself by voting for it after doing everything he could to work against it. He plays to an audience. We will make sure our members know."

The “Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act” passed the legislature in 2008—during Rubio’s tenure as Florida House Speaker—and was signed into law by Governor Charlie Crist. Rubio voted for the measure, yet just over a year after it was signed, Hammer reflected on the effort it took to get the bill passed and said, “[Rubio] was a big disappointment to us when he was the speaker. He talked the talk, but he didn’t walk the walk,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The Washington Examimer points to a Miami Herald story in which Rubio said he was okay with “reasonable restrictions” on guns. Rubio said this while he was running against Charlie Crist for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate.

But Rubio—now Senator Rubio—wasn’t done. The Washington Examiner reports that “Rubio hinted after the Sandy Hook school shooting that he might be open to stricter gun laws for convicted felons or the mentally ill.” At that time, Rubio’s spokesman Alex Contant said that the Florida Senator had “always been open to measures that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.”





Actions speak louder than words. And Sen. Flores is one of them.

Her Statesments after Fort Lauderdale prove it.

Who's phone & email should we be blowing up to make sure open carry gets passed?

ETA:  Thank you Miami_JBT for the updates and all the leg work.

It is pretty much dead in the current format.....

From Sen. Steube own words....

“Just from feeling the tea leaves, it’s probably better to attack it piece by piece,” Steube said after a Judiciary Committee meeting. “The House doesn’t have a bill that has all those different (parts)."

Steube said campus-carry, which he sponsored in the House, and the airport-terminal proposal would be his top priorities.

Given what’s happened at Fort Lauderdale airport, that’s important to me,” Steube said, alluding to a recent mass shooting at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/politics/2017/01/24/senator-plans-break-up-major-gun-bill/97014078/


He just stated that Campus Carry and Airport Carry are his top priorities now. That pretty much says that Open Carry is dead. 

Yes, we have four weeks left of Committee and Session hasn't even started. But if it can't get out of committee it is pretty much dead. 

Our only hope is that it is sent to another committee and it passes that. But so far we know Flores is not on board for SB 140 as a whole. 


I'd hit Joe Negron. He's the Senate President and he determines where bills go. So we have to make sure he puts the individual bills that will come out of SB-140 into good committees without turncoats like Flores. 

I'm not as savvy on Florida politics (even though I have no excuse), but what committee should we press the Senate President to put the OC bill in?

I think breaking up the bill is a good idea.  If we can get campus carry and airport carry that will be a big step forward.  Open carry is going to be tougher because they're afraid of scaring the tourist.  The Miami Republicans are called Democrats in the other open carry states.

I think Airport Carry for the most part is a waste of political capital. The majority of people that go to and from airports are travelers. So the actual ability to carry is greatly reduced because everyone gets ready for travel. Their gun would be locked and secured per TSA specs. 

Open Carry and Campus Carry are the two important things. Florida has a societal issue with guns. Since they are not carried openly, the general public is scared of them. We have a strong gun culture in FL but Open Carry would really branch that out. 

My sentiments exactly.

If there is to be any "sacrificial lamb", it should be airport carry.  Open Carry and Campus Carry need to happen.

Carve out a big exemption for the mouse if you have to (that could be litigated later), just get it passed.

The Mouse has Private Property Rights. They can ask you not to carry. Simple as that. They don't need another special carve out. Hell, they kicked me out of Downtown Disney when I was carrying and was made there.

Under current law if your gun is detected and you're told to leave a property you must leave ASAP so there's no need for any exemption for the theme parks.

You carry openly and they can choose to deny you entrance or ask that you leave.

Exemptions are like cancer; they grow.


I'd rather see airport carry enacted than campus carry if I had to make a choice between them since I'm often at the airport picking up family members at hours when the terminal is a ghost town and the parking structures are abandoned to foot or vehicle traffic.

I'm never on a campus.



Truth is; never give up the other guy's rights as a sacrificial lamb.

My wife works on a campus, so that's important to us.

Agreed.....however if sacrifices need to be made, then let the position that benefits the most stand....and that's clearly open carry.

No argument from me on that.

If you're picking people up at the airport you can carry anyway...you're not going to be in the "passenger terminal or sterile" parts of the airport.  Sure, the definition is vague but concealed is concealed.

Concealed may be concealed; but make no mistake the law isn't vague at all.

It's clearly illegal to carry anywhere inside the airport passenger terminal in Florida.

The passenger greeting area, the baggage claim area, restaurants inside the terminal;  it's not legal to carry anywhere within the actual passenger  terminal building.

https://www.floridacarry.org/issues/concealed-and-unconcealed-carry/40-airport-carry-is-legal-in-44-states-but-florida-will-put-you-in-jail

Picked up a buddy at FLL a week after the shooting and when claiming his checked bag (gun) his bag was followed out with a TSA agent which told him he's not allowed to open the bag ANYWHERE on airport property.

who made that corruption ad on Flores? Can I use the image to print a few thousand postcards?

Form Email to send out across to every...... 

Yeah, I know this is huge. But just copy and paste it. It is every email address I posted.  

[email protected];  [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] 


Subject Line: FL GOP, the 2nd Amendment, and Women's Rights 

Hello, 

I've have been a life long Republican and I have also been Pro 2nd Amendment for my entire life too. 

For the 2017 Legislative Session; Sen. Greg Steube introduced SB-140. This was an all in one comprehensive bill that combined Open Carry and Campus Carry. I bring this up because since 2011. Pro 2nd Amendment Bills have been submitted in the State Senate and they have been blocked by Republicans. Not Democrats.... but fellow Republicans. Our Party prides itself as being the party that protects and expands individual rights. It campaigns on supporting the 2nd Amendment and exercising said rights. Yet we have Republicans constantly trying to limit our rights to self defense and especially those of women. Campus rapes and attack on female students is an ongoing and grave issue. And yet the members of the GOP continues to strip them of their rights to self defense.  

This year so far, Sen. Steube's efforts have been crushed by fellow Republican Sen. Anitere Flores and Sen. Rene Garcia. Both members of Sen. Steube's Judiciary Committee. That committee is made up of a total of nine members. Five Republicans and four Democrats. With Sen. Flores and Sen. Garcia siding with the Democrats. They crushed any chance of Campus Carry at the moment. That's right. Two Republicans once again sided with Democrats to strip you and our fellow Floridians of the chance to exercise our rights and even more important. Have the ability to defend yourselves.  

Senator Anitere Flores is one of three Republican Senators that sided with the Democrats to call for a Special Session after the Fort Lauderdale Airport Terror Attack.    She stated the following.    "WE SEE NOW, WITH THIS LATEST ATTACK, THAT WE NEED TO TAKE A COMPREHENSIVE LOOK AT GUN LAWS IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND FIND THE BEST WAY TO BALANCE THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE TO OWN GUNS VERSUS PUBLIC SAFETY."

In 2016; a similar situation occurred in the Senate. Then Republican Judiciary Chairman Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla stopped SB-300 via the very same committee that this year's bill has been stopped in. Sen. de la Portilla stated "OPEN CARRY IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN; IT'S DONE…ON ALL OF THESE GUN BILLS, I DON'T BELIEVE ANY OF THEM ARE NECESSARY. THEY COULD RESULT IN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES. I THINK WE NEED TO PRIORITIZE IN OUR COMMITTEE, AS FAR AS WHAT WE HEAR. WE CAN'T HEAR EVERY BILL THAT'S REFERRED TO US." He of course did so with the blessing of then Senate President Andy Gardiner, also a Republican.  

If you recall. In November of 2014; there was an active shooter attack at the Strozier Library. One of the FSU Students injured by the crazed attacker was a legally licensed conceal carry permit holder but was disarmed by State Law which bans anyone fRom carrying on campus. What's worse is that our fellow Floridians could have been legally armed if earlier that year the same type of bill as today was not gutted by a Senate Republican. 

In 2014's Session, it was Sen. Charles McBurney; Republican of course that blocked SB-344 in the Senate via committee.  

In 2011, it was Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff that prevent FSU students from being able to be legally armed. She removed any and all mention of Campus Carry from SB-234 by an amendment that was then voted and passed by fellow Republicans.  

Our Party claims to be the one that protects the 2nd Amendment yet time after time, they have been the ones that kill our rights. This is unacceptable. I bring this to your attention because their actions affect you and your fellow students. As Republicans Young and Old (thank God I'm not there yet!) we need to press the issue.  

If the GOP claims to be a Party that defends the 2nd Amendment, protects the right to self defense, and claims to be the true Party that is for the equality and freedom of women. Then they need to pass Campus Carry and Open Carry.  

Open Carry ties into this because women are hindered by societal standards on dress. It is much harder for a woman to conceal a firearm on their body. Usually they have to resort to off body carry via a purse. This in of itself is a problem.

In 2016, Ms. Lopez-Rivas wrote this letter to then Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. Ms. Lopez-Rivas is an undergraduate student at Florida State University and a Rape Victim.

"I am typing this letter from a Starbucks in Tallahassee, where I am situationally aware, trained, and well armed. Although I do not expect anything drastic to happen today, I am still prepared if something does go down—either to get the heck out and dodge, or tackle whatever happens head on, and I am prepared to do so with deadly force if needed. Although I now maintain great situational awareness everywhere I go and have self defense training in disarming, and in fighting off, an attacker, there are times where I am legally left without the tool that could best level the playing field in protecting me—my gun. 

Currently under Florida law, I am not allowed to carry on my campus, Florida State University. On my campus that reported 17 sexual assaults in 2014; on my campus that uses maybe 10 uniformed officers at any given point in time to protect the whole campus; on my campus that refuses to back campus carry as a way for women to legitimately protect themselves from assault; and on my campus which claims sovereign immunity when they are unable to protect these women: I am told I am safe and I do not need a gun.

While President Thrasher and university officials would have you believe that I am not defenseless, and even, that I am safe on campus, I would beg to differ. I already used pepper spray once; do you want to know how that ended for me? I was left shaking and crying, half naked on campus grounds, with cut marks all over my body. That’s what pepper spray did for me.As a gun rights activist, I can write all day about our Second Amendment rights. I will throw down statistics like how 0.1 percent of rapes were completed when women used a firearm as compared to a 34 percent completion rate when women used any other form of self-defense. Or how with the exception of two, all the mass shootings since the 1950’s have been in gun free zones.  Stats are easy to discuss, but when it comes to talking about being raped, my throat gets dry and my hands freeze up. It’s a lot harder to write about nightmares than it is to write about numbers. 

And I do have nightmares from being raped on campus. Sometimes they are so bad I wake up at three in the morning sweaty and terrified because in my mind I am being raped again. In my mind I am there: I am forced into a secluded area, forced to unzip my pants, forced to lay down as tiny cuts are made all over my body and a man I do not know rolls on a condom and forces himself on top of me. I remember how cold the asphalt felt as I distracted myself from the sting of the knife. I remember looking into his eyes and realizing there was no emotion behind them, no sympathy just sadism. And I remember thinking: this is how I’m going to die and then getting up after it was done, tears streaming down my face and neck wondering how I even survived.

I was already raped once off campus my freshman year of college, but this time I used pepper spray. This time I ran, heading for those blue lights staggered around campus to signal the police I was in danger. I did everything right but when he pulled a knife I stopped fighting. Instinct told me to cooperate if I didn’t want to get stabbed to death, and here I am today—sitting at Starbucks, simultaneously trying to remember the exact details and forget this ever happened.

I fight for my Second Amendment rights because I believe I should never have a chance of getting raped again. I won’t deny the possibility of getting injured, but my gun gives me a chance that pepper spray, stun guns, and pocketknives never will. It prevents a knife being held at my throat and the voice of a stranger promising me he won’t kill me. And I won’t be denied the right to have that chance of surviving a potential attack rather than being assaulted again.

Sen. Diaz de la Portilla, why are you so adamant in denying me my right to protect myself and have a gun on campus? Why have you not schedule the campus carry bill for the Senate Judiciary Committee you chair? Why have you not met with me for 15 minutes since October when I began sending you and your legislative assistant weekly emails asking for an appointment?

I hope this open letter will engage opposition to campus carry. I hope everyone will understand why it’s so important that the bill be scheduled for a vote. Senator Diaz de la Portilla: Don’t let me be raped on campus again, let me arm myself, and whether you vote yes or no, at least schedule the campus carry bill for a vote."

Lastly, in February of 2012; Mr. Dale Norman was arrested by Fort Pierce Police for legally carrying a pistol. Mr. Norman was abiding by State Law by concealing his pistol while carrying under the authority of the State Issued Conceal Carry Weapons Permit. Mr. Norman's shirt rode up and briefly exposed the bottom of his holster. Once again; Mr. Norman, a law abiding was simply walking along the side walk and was arrested at gun point and forced to the ground simply for exercising his rights. Mr. Norman is currently fighting for his civil rights in the Florida Supreme Court.  

Sen. Joe Negron (R) is the current Senate President. We need to make sure that he along with Senate Majority Leader Wilton Simpson (R) correct these issues. I am asking that you rally your College Republicans and email, call, and visit in person if possible and push this issue. Florida is only one of five State in the country that does not have Open Carry. Forty five other States do. We're one of the few State that restrict Campus Carry. We have a Republican Majority in the House and Senate along with having control of the Governor's Seat. It is a travesty that we cannot pass such simply legislation that corrects such injustices.  

I ask for your assistance and I thank you for taking your time to hear me out. 

Thank You 

Sincerely, 

Just got off the phone with Committeewoman Sandra Atkinson of the Okaloosa County Republican Party.

She's 100% on board and will be forwarding the information and rallying the Western Panhandle Tea Party. She was originally on the State 2nd Amendment Committee before it was disbanded. She has plenty of experience fighting the anti gun forces in Tallahassee!

Also just spoke with Chairman Evan Power of the Leon County Republicans and Committeeman Bruno Barreiro of Miami-Dade County. They're both informed and will be bringing the issue up and spreading the news.