Posted on 02/08/2008 9:02:17 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Hoping to reverse an "alarming trend," two Florida state lawmakers, both Democrats, have introduced a bill that would require stiffer mandatory sentences for criminals who use semiautomatic or automatic weapons.
The legislation also targets criminals who fraudulently acquire assault weapons and sellers who "know or should have known the buyer was using false identification."
In a Feb. 6 news release announcing the bill, State Senator Gwen Margolis and Representative Evan Jenne mentioned a case in September, where a 25-year-old fugitive shot and killed a Miami-Dade police officer with a semi-automatic rifle.
In 2006, there were 19 reported homicides involving assault weapons in Miami-Dade County alone, the lawmakers said.
The bills introduced in both the Florida House and Senate (SB 782/HB 425) would require a mandatory life sentence for a criminal who uses a semi-automatic or automatic weapon during the commission of a crime, resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Criminals using those weapons to commit crimes that do not involve death or injury would get a minimum 25 years in prison.
And criminals who use false identification or identity theft to buy or sell a semi-automatic or automatic weapon -- even if they do not use it to commit a crime -- will face up to 15 years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
"Current law is not effectively assisting law enforcement in getting illegally obtains guns off the street. Our intent is to provide law enforcement with the tools necessary to keep the public safe," said Jenne.
The lawmakers said they hope to "break the supply chain and reduce the number of illegally obtained guns in our communities."
The legislation has the support of the Miami-Dade Police Department, the Florida Police Chiefs Association, the Florida Sheriff's Association, the Fraternal Order of Police, and the Police Benevolent Association, the lawmakers said.
However, Second Amendment groups are expected to reject the legislation. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel quoted one lobbyist for the National Rifle Association, who called the proposal flawed.
Do any of these asshats have a clue as to what an "assault weapon" is?
However, the bill is aimed at the right people — the criminals, not the peace-abiding gun owners.
How long before butterknive’s are classified as “assault weapons”?
If the weapon is not designed to fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull, IT IS NOT AN “Assault weapon”!
“semi-automatic” anything, IS NOT AN “Assault weapon”!
This is a political creation, intended to make gun grabbers sound reasonable.
Note to self: Use revolver for next armed burglary in FL.
Makes since to me.
Being shot by someone with a pretty weapon is much less deadly than being shot by someone with an ugly weapon.
would require a mandatory life sentence for a criminal who uses a semi-automatic or automatic weapon during the commission of a crime, resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Guess that means a Ruger 22 too....
Thats just about all of the democrat legislators in Florida. :)
About zero chance of this going anywhere here.
Absolutely. People who use guns in a crime should be punished harshly. The more reckless and dangerous the gun and its use, the more harsh the crime should be. 2nd Amendment advocates should not appear to be defending the use of a gun in committing a crime.
There aren’t many details about the law in the article but it seems to me that if you use an automatic weapon in self-defense, but the jury decides you weren’t justified, you get your sentence boosted for the crime of assault with a deadly weapon or murder. Great . . . cause plenty of people have semi-automatic pistols for self-defense.
And just how many criminals have used an “assault weapon” in the commission of a crime?
So now I "should have known", by whose standards?
So I’m less dead, my family’s grief is lessened, and accordingly the criminal should get a break if I’m murdered with a knife or a revolver instead?
Maybe if FLA wasn’t so soft on criminals using any weapon they wouldn’t have room to toughen the law for “assault” weapons.
WastedYears typing
They’re kidding
... Right?
WastedYears typing
***However, the bill is aimed at the right people — the criminals, not the peace-abiding gun owners.***
That’s what they want you to think.
Here is a simple test: why is one an "assault weapon" and therefore banned under the now-expired federal law and one is not?
My thanks to Model1Sales.com for the hotlinks to their fine firearms.
Ryan Kulik of Missourians Against Handgun Violence, in his May 6 Tribune column, appealed for extension of the present ban on "assault weapons." For his reason, he cited the Columbine massacre, with the question, "What if the Columbine gunmen did not have access to these deadly weapons?"
The two Columbine murderers carried a total of four firearms. They each carried a 9mm firearm and a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. They also carried 95 bombs.
Under the "assault weapons" ban that Kulik wants extended, only one of the murderers’ firearms is affected. Of the three remaining, the two sawed-off shotguns were banned years ago. All 95 bombs were banned.
How does Kulik propose - in hindsight - to prevent Columbine? By denying the murderers "these deadly weapons," meaning the single, now banned, "assault weapon" in the same exact way the law denied the murderers sawed-off shotguns and bombs? Of course, the murderers also ignored the laws forbidding assault and murder.
By omitting 95 banned bombs while fretting about one firearm they hope to continue to ban, people like Kulik engage in shameless exploitation of Columbine. For them, there is no advantage to mentioning already banned objects.
Indeed, they are a hindrance to their cause because it demonstrates the preordained failure of their predictable solution.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.