Local Governments Scramble to Repeal Gun Restrictions

Sarasota Herald-Tribune ^ | 9/20/11 | Zac Anderson

[epow]

Any of Florida's parks, city halls and libraries — once gun-free zones — will soon be forced to allow firearms under a state-led effort to curtail gun restrictions imposed by local governments.

Facts:

GUN ORDINANCES UP FOR REPEAL

City of Sarasota

Law allowing city manager to suspend firearm sales during emergencies

Sarasota County

Laws prohibiting hunting from roads and bridges, allowing the suspension of firearm sales during a riot, requiring pawn shops to keep records of firearms

Manatee County

Laws requiring gun ranges to ensure stray bullets stay within their property, prohibiting discharge of firearms on unpaved public roads and regulating concealed weapons

City of Longboat Key

Law banning discharge of firearms within city limits

City of North Port

Law banning discharge of firearms in city limits

City and county officials across the state are scrambling to undo local ordinances restricting firearms before a new state law takes effect Oct. 1. The law imposes personal fines of up to $5,000 for local officials who overreach state gun regulations.

[epow]

The current FL legislature seems to be coming down on the side of the 2nd Amendment's guarantee of the RKBA. In light of the recent USSC decisions defining the 2nd Amendment as a guarantee of an individual right it's past time for ALL other state governments to follow FL's lead and nullify the countless thousands of unconstitutional city and county laws that infringe on that right. Over the last century or more, thousands of such local laws have been imposed on law abiding city and county residents by local politicians who have probably never read the BOR, much less the entire Constitution.

There are a few reasonable restrictions that should be left intact IMO, such as those that prohibit unnecessary firing of guns in occupied neighborhoods, campgrounds, and parks for example. However, IMHO ensuring the right of law abiding people to be armed against criminal attack at all times in any and all locations and situations should be the one overriding principle that applies to all gun laws, whether federal, state, or local.

[Libloather]

Florida Forces Towns to Pull Local Laws Limiting Guns ('No Guns Allowed' signs coming down)

[Lurker]

The FL Legislature made local officials personally liable for willfully violating FL State gun laws. That's what got the local anti-civil rights leaders attention. IIRC there are some stiff fines as well as possible prison time involved for local pols who willfully violate the 2nd Amendment rights of Floridians.

[epow]

The other — which prohibits doctors from asking their patients about guns — was ruled an unconstitutional violation of free speech by a Miami judge this month. State leaders are appealing the judge's ruling.

I suppose I have to reluctantly agree with the Miami judge on that one provision of the FL law, the 1st Amendment guarantee of free speech is equally as important to our liberties as the 2nd's guarantee of the RKBA. If a doctor asks me a question concerning guns I may own or have in my home I will simply decline to answer. If he/she persists I will politely end the conversation and schedule an appointment with another doctor.

[patton]

Do you have a link to the law? I would REALLY like to read it.

[Beagle8U]

The problem is those asked about guns in the home will have that recorded in their permanent medical records. Records that wind up being forwarded many times to other doctors and insurance companies. It may wind up in the hands of government too unless obamacare is repealed.

Still think it's OK?

[epow]

The FL Legislature made local officials personally liable for willfully violating FL State gun laws.

You bet that part of the law got their attention. And it's about time that all local would-be dictators are forced under threat of personal prosecution to allow law abiding people to exercise Constitutionally protected rights in ALL categories of the law without infringement by local laws and ordinances. It's yet to be seen whether or not all of FL's local prosecutors will enforce the new law concerning that issue. The heavily populated southeastern part of the state is very liberal and anti-2nd Amendment, and local officials will no doubt resist enforcing the new law as long as possible. I haven't lived in FL for over 15 years, but I well remember the Nazi-like officials who dominated local governments in that part of the state when I did live down there.

[taxcontrol]

Actually, there is a simple change to the law that would fix both the 1st and 2nd amendment issues. Simply require doctors who dispense advice with regards to firearm safety to:

1) become NRA certified in basic instructor, pistol instructor and rifle instructor
2) require them to complete and be awarded a CCW
3) obtain and maintain the same level of malpractice insurance as they carry for providing medical advice.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

How do you handle it when a pediatrician asks your 3 year old about daddies guns and attempts to brainwash your kid with anti RKBA crap?

[bfree]

Get a new doctor.

[Cboldt]

-- If a doctor asks me a question concerning guns I may own or have in my home I will simply decline to answer. --

Depends on the doctor and what I know about them. The default is to lie, and become recorded as "all guns lost in an unfortunate canoe accident on the lake."

[SWAMPSNIPER]

You might never know it happened.

[GOPJ]

Thanks God Florida is dumping it’s unconstitutional ‘laws’... it’s waaaaay past time.

[GOPJ]

Thank God Florida is dumping it’s unconstitutional ‘laws’... it’s waaaaay past time.

[epow]

Still think it's OK?

I have never thought or said that it's OK. I just think that it MAY possibly infringe on an individual's Constitutional right to free speech, and the 1st amendment is equally as important to our liberties as the 2nd.

If a patient refuses to answer the question and ends his/her doctor-patient relationship with that doctor, why would that be made known to insurance companies? In any event, if I understand the legal situation regarding that part of the law, that question will be decided by a higher court than that of the Miami judge.

[GOPJ]

The first time a doctor asks about guns in my home is the last time I see that doctor.

A doctor's visit is for medical care - not an opportunity for some liberal elite to offer political advice. I also don't want conservative doctors asking liberals how often they go to church...

And while I'm at it, I don't want the check out people at my local grocery store asking what kind of tires I buy or if they're inflated correctly.

Anyone else sick of liberal scolds?

[George from New England]

“You might never know it happened.”

Correct. Medical staff are encouraged to isolate the child to question about abuse in the house, parents fighting, punishment or other. Info about guns could be recorded without parental consent about this nazi-like action.

[PapaBear3625]

It's yet to be seen whether or not all of FL's local prosecutors will enforce the new law concerning that issue. The heavily populated southeastern part of the state is very liberal and anti-2nd Amendment, and local officials will no doubt resist enforcing the new law as long as possible.

It's not up to the local prosecutor to enforce it or not enforce it. A violation of state law by a local official would mean the state Attorney General coming after him.

[T-Bird45]

The FL Legislature made local officials personally liable for willfully violating FL State gun laws.

Next step: apply that same concept to those authorized to enforce the law, a la the Canton, OH JBT recently featured on YouTube. It would only take a few house-forfeiting judgements against the badged bad-guys that kill dogs, raid the wrong house and generally violate the civil rights of law-abiding licensed firearms carriers to get a handle on who's the boss.

[Kenton]

The other — which prohibits doctors from asking their patients about guns — was ruled an unconstitutional violation of free speech by a Miami judge this month. State leaders are appealing the judge's ruling.

Unless it was for follow-up treatment of a gunshot, I can't imagine my doctor even going there. If he did, I would make him explain himself, and if I didn't like the reason I would inform him he was out of bounds. If that wasn't the end of it, he'd lose my business.

Hopefully, that wouldn't happen, because he's one of the few white (Non-affirmative action), US-educated ,English-as-a-first-language doctors in the area.

[Nebr FAL owner]

Regarding doctors asking about your guns ,ask what the doctors training with regard to firearms ie Gunsite,Thunder Ranch , Armed forces instructor,etc .If the answer is not to your satisfaction ask the doctor if his/her malpractice insurance carrier knows that they are practicing beyond their scope of practice & would they like you to tel them. Shuts the croaker up in a heartbeat.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

People who have not been active in the RKBA battle aren't likely to be aware of how the anti gunners work.

They will use every dirty sneaky tactic they can think of.

[Lurker]

Frigging brilliant.

[21twelve]

Our kids were not left alone with a doctor until the age of ten or so. And then they were instructed about improper acts, questions, etc.

The pedetrician did ask my wife about guns once with our first child. My wife told him that was none of his business. I thought about quitting him - but he is REALLY good. And figure it is a standard question. He never brought it up again.

[George from New England]

‘Left alone’ these days is with nurse and doctor, always two.

Question can be asked there too.

[21twelve]

Oh - I meant “left alone” without mom or dad when they were young.

They still are not to open the door except for a few trusted neighbors. That includes police officers.

[epow]

People who have not been active in the RKBA battle aren't likely to be aware of how the anti gunners work. They will use every dirty sneaky tactic they can think of.

I can certainly agree with that.

When I lived in FL I worked off and on with a pro-gun group that lobbied the state legislature, the majority of which (the legislature that is) at that time tended to lean toward an anti-2nd Amendment rights stance. I soon discovered that our anti-gun opponents in that fight were capable of employing any tactic whether legal or illegal, fair or foul, truth or bald-faced lie, that they thought might help them reach their goal of convincing the state's lawmakers that it was necessary to impose more and stricter gun control laws on the people in order for FL to reverse it's rapidly rising murder rate. It was a close contest in the early 1980s but we finally won out against the antis and the oppressive laws they wanted were rejected by the FL legislature.

And to top that off, later in that decade, 1986 IIRC, our earlier efforts were rewarded when a FL legislature more favorable to 2nd Amendment rights passed one of the first, if not THE first, shall-issue concealed carry laws in the nation. FL's liberal Democrat governor at that time, Bob Graham, vetoed the bill, however Republican governor Bob Martinez signed an even better bill into law the following year.

Enactment of FL's CCW law seems to have inspired similar efforts by pro-gun orgs in many other states to have shall-issue CC laws enacted in their states. Not too long after FL's law was enacted several of those states also enacted shall-issue CCW laws, and today only Obama's home state IL totally bans concealed or open carry. Some of those CCW laws were enacted at least partially as a result of the success of FL's law at reducing FL's murder rate by approximately 25% within only a couple of years following it's enactment IIRC.

My role in that successful endeavor was ridiculously minuscule and unimportant compared to that of most other participants. But even so I like to think that I contributed at least a microscopically tiny bit to the success of that ad hoc group's fight against well organized and liberally funded anti-gunners. Patting one's self on the back for having participated to even a very, very small extent in the achievement of a worthy objective is quite uncomfortable, and also very much inappropriate in my particular case. But OTOH it shows that even an extremely small amount of effort such as that which I expended can help make a difference in our fight for full restoration of our Constitutionally guaranteed rights in every aspect of life and government that the grand old document touches on.