NRA endorsed Republican killing Campus/Open Carry in Florida. Allies w/ Gun Grabbers

[Miami_JBT]

This past year I've been taking time off and hitting the State Capitol. Here's what's been going on.

On March 7, 2017 was the first day of the Legislative Session for Florida and with that two 2nd Amendment related bills were up for debate in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The same committee where Open Carry and Campus Carry were killed last year by then Republican Committee Chair Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla. As you know, there has been on ongoing issue this year in that same committee. This time with two Republican Senators.

Senator Anitere Flores, the Florida Senate’s President Pro Tempore. She’s the second most powerful Senator under the Senate President, Joe Negron. The other is Senator Rene Garcia.

The two bills up for debate were SB 616 and SB 646. SB 616 was about Guns and Court Houses. It would not have allowed concealed carry in the court, it simply would have allowed licensed permitted concealed carry holders to check in their gun with the police/sheriff stationed at the court. Nothing more and nothing less. SB 646 would have decriminalized accidental exposure of a concealed firearm. It would have made it a $25 dollar fine to the Clerk of the Court and a non arrestable offense.

Both bills were scheduled to be heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee at 4pm. Myself and a number of Florida 2nd Amendment Supporters spent all day at the Capitol meeting with Senators that are part of the Judiciary Committee.

At 1pm we met with Senator Flores’ Office. We presented the facts and explained why SB 646 needed to be passed, especially after the unjust ruling from the Florida Supreme Court in Norman v State. Then we met with Senator Mayfield’s Office at 2pm. Senator Mayfield’s Staff stated with no uncertain term that she supports SB 646 and she does not agree with the Court ruling in Norman v State. Mr. Norman lives in her district and she found it appalling to what happened to him.

At 3pm we met with Senator Garcia. With our group was a current FSU student that was raped on campus in 2014. She told Senator Garcia in person that she was raped on campus and then asked him if he would support Campus Carry. Senator Garcia flat out stated no that he will not support it. Senator was also asked if he’d support Open Carry and he said no.

At 3:30pm we then met with Sen. Steube to discuss SB 646 and of course the actual elephant in the room. SB 644 (Legitimate Open Carry) and SB 622 (Legitimate Open Carry). We asked Sen. Steube if Senate President Joe Negron will use his constitutional authority to places these bills directly for a floor vote in the Senate and he stated that it does not appear that Senate President Negron will not do such an act. We were unable to get word directly from Senate President Joe Negron. Also no word from the House on where their Pro Gun Bills are at the moment either.

We then attended the Committee Meeting at 4pm. The first 2nd Amendment bill to be heard was SB 616 (Courthouse gun check in). During the debate. Sen. Flores openly stated that she will only vote for this bill because it is very limited in scope and she does not support Campus Carry, Airport Carry, School Carry, or Open Carry. Senator Garcia then stated that he shares beliefs and supports Senator Flores’ statements and furthermore he then went on about mental health.

Senator Flores stated “I do not support guns on campus, I do not support having guns in airports and I do not support guns in school zones. I don’t support those things.”

Senator Garcia stated “I want to echo the sentiments Sen. Flores stated.”

I must say, Senator Debbie Mayfield stood strong in the opposition that is Senator Flores and her lackey Senator Garcia. Senator Mayfield said “I am one of those that believe it is a God given right for us to protect ourselves and to carry a gun.”

As of this point, Campus Carry and Open Carry is dead in Florida unless Senate President Joe Negron pulls these bills out of committee and move them directly to a floor vote. Senator Greg Steube is fighting an uphill battle this year. Sadly, for a State under Republican control since 1996, it appears that once again Republicans are killing Pro Gun Legislation by smothering it in the cradle via committee and worse it is being done by Senate President Joe Negron’s top lieutenant and the second most powerful person, Senator Anitere Flores.

Senator Flores was given a 100% A+ rating by the NRA in 2015 and the NRA endorsed her for her bid to run for Florida Senate in 2010.


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It gets worse.... on July 5, 2016 she voted yes for a Special Session that would tackle gun control. The next day she sent a letter to the NRA requesting an endorsement.

http://i.imgur.com/1rSgDRZ.jpg

So I went to the Capitol on March 9 to confront her about the two faced game she's playing.

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[Edit: I've converted the oversized images in this post to links in order to make it readable. -- Evan Thomas]

[Miami_JBT]

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They made me so while I sat in her office I wrote this real quick.

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In the end that day she never saw me. Instead it was Demi Busatta, she's the Senior Legislative Aid to Senator Flores. I met with her on Tuesday when I was last there. I gave her the quick letter I wrote and put on it my name, address, phone, and email. I told her under no uncertain terms that I want an answer as to why Sen. Flores switched sides. I told her the truth..... that as a Miami Resident I lived in her district and I felt as if a knife was plunged into my back. As a Cuban I feel doubly betrayed. I went over Flores' voting history and how she voted for every pro gun bill except for two that she was absent for. I told her that I need an answer for why the change and that no matter what. I will go there for an answer.

So yesterday I wrote this up and will mail it and hand deliver it to her.

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Edit: See my note above. -- Evan Thomas

[Miami_JBT]

Yeah, I know about the typos in the typed up letter..... I caught them before I sent it out.


Anyways.....

I also did a record's request to the Senate and Secretary of the State.

Dear Mr. Miami_JBT:

The Office of the Senate Secretary received your public records request dated March 10, 2017, for the following: ·

In late June to early July of 2016, a special session was attempted to be called in regards to the Pulse Nightclub Terror Attack and the special session would have tackled gun control and the FBI Terror Watch List and banning Floridians from being able to purchase guns if they are on the list. I am requesting a copy of any letters and votes Senator Flores sent to the Secretary of State Ken Detzner and Senate President Andy Gardiner or any other people regarding this special session.

A response to this request will be given in a reasonable amount of time. Should this request result in an extensive use of Senate information technology resources, clerical or supervisory assistance, an extensive use fee estimate will be provided for approval prior to processing the request.

The Senate provides this response pursuant to Article 1, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution, section 11.0431, Florida Statutes, and Senate Rule 1.48. Under Article 1, Section 24(c) of the Florida Constitution, each house of the Legislature is exclusively authorized to adopt rules governing the enforcement of the maintenance, control and disposition of public records with respect to their own public records.


The Office of the Senate Secretary will be in contact should any additional information be needed. Otherwise, a notification will be sent once the records are ready for release.

Sincerely,

Tessa Wagoner
Public Records Coordinator
Florida Senate
(850) 487-5237
[email protected]

I want to see what she wrote to the Democrats when she voted yes for a special session for gun control.it was the day before she begged the NRA for an endorsement a

[steve4102]

What's your point?

You are blaming the NRA for this?

Maybe you should get some really good crystal balls and send them to the NRA so they can keep all those they support from making bad decisions.

[natman]

1) Resize your pictures

2) The title of this thread is wildly misleading. It's one thing if you intend "NRA endorsed Republican" to use "NRA-endorsed" as an adjective modifying Republican, but as written it reads as if the NRA endorsed the Republican after she killed the bill, i.e. as if endorsed were a verb.

A dash between NRA and endorsed would have helped. Punctuation matters.

The problem is with the two faced politician, not the NRA. There is no way the NRA could have known two years ago when she responded to the survey how she'd vote now. As it says on their website: "Candidate ratings for previous election cycles were compiled in the year of the election and may no longer accurately represent a candidate’s or elected official’s position or rating."

Calling them "Allies with Gun Grabbers" is a wild distortion.

[DaleA]

I very much do appreciate it when folk keep track of the politicians. I mean these are the folk that are making the laws we live under.

That said, I think your work is getting lost in the simple formatting of the stuff you posted.

I can't help you much since every time I want to post a picture I seem to have to go back to the instructions and it takes me quite a bit of time. But the text in post number one, the 'meat' of your post, could you do something with that so it wouldn't extend so far to the right? That is, I have to do horizontal scrolling to read it. Actually I did a copy and paste into a blank word document so I could read it easier.

Thank you for posting. I hope the comments on the format do NOT discourage you from continuing.

[Evan Thomas]

I've removed the extremely oversized images, but left the links to them -- they made your posts close to unreadable, Miami_JBT. I've also deleted one post that contained nothing but images.

In the future (or if you want to edit these posts), please use the [RESIZE] function to reduce your images to a size that permits people to look at them.

[JohnKSa]

Great information, but you need to consider the responses you get here (a friendly audience) from such a large volume of information when you plan what you're going to send to a possibly hostile audience.

The information needs to be as compact as possible. If it is important to include a ton of pictures and documenting information then condense all the critical information on a single page and then reference addenda which you append to that single page.

Sending a "novella" to anyone official is a good way to make sure that the information you're trying to convey is ignored.

Think of what you're sending as a resume. You need the important stuff to be easily accessible and very compact with additional documentation supplied either as requested or as addenda.

[Miami_JBT]

Natman....

Her endorsement and letter were less than a year a ago. She voted for a Special Session to bring up gun control bills one day before she sent the letter to the NRA. That was on July 6, 2016. Her vote with gun grabbers was on July 5, 2016.

[NateKirk]

More than likely trading a vote on one thing for a vote on another. The government runs, to a large extent, on favors.

[KyJim]

The information needs to be as compact as possible

+1. At the very least, provide a summary of no more than a page. A half page is better. And don't cram it in; the use of bullet points is encouraged.

[natman]

Natman....

Her endorsement and letter were less than a year a ago. She voted for a Special Session to bring up gun control bills one day before she sent the letter to the NRA. That was on July 6, 2016. Her vote with gun grabbers was on July 5, 2016.

Not according to your original post:

Senator Flores was given a 100% A+ rating by the NRA in 2015 and the NRA endorsed her for her bid to run for Florida Senate in 2010.

I can only respond to what you actually write.

[Miami_JBT]

By Steve4102:

What's your point?

You are blaming the NRA for this?

Maybe you should get some really good crystal balls and send them to the NRA so they can keep all those they support from making bad decisions.

One of the things that is an issue with the NRA that I want to correct....

Senator Flores voted yes for a Special Session for Gun Control on July 5, 2016. Then on July 6, 2016 she sent her letter out to Marion Hammer of the NRA.

GOP rejects Democrats' push for guns special session - Orlando Sentinel

GOP rejects Democrats' push for guns special session - Orlando Sentinel

TALLAHASSEE – Lawmakers won’t be returning to the Capitol for a special session to prevent potential terrorists from buying firearms.

A push from Democrats to close what they call the “terror loophole” in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting failed to get the 96 votes needed to trigger a special session to take up the bill.Omar Mateen, the shooter, was not on the FBI terror watch list at the time, although he was interviewed three times previously over his connections to other terrorists.The vote for the special session came down mostly along partisan lines, with Republicans rejecting another session. In all, 89 lawmakers voted against the special session with 50 voting in favor.Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, said the call for a special session was a political stunt with poor timing. Plus, state law enforcement officials wouldn’t have access to the federal terror watch list, so the remedy wouldn’t do much, he said.

“I think it’s not appropriate,” Cortes said. “It’s political grandstanding at its best.”In Central Florida, Republican Reps. Bob Cortes of Altamonte Springs, Eric Eisnaugle of Orlando and Scott Plakon of Longwood and GOP Sen. David Simmons of Altamonte Springs voted against the special session. Democratic Reps. Randolph Bracy of Orlando, John Cortes of Kissimmee and Victor Torres of Orlando and Sens. Darren Soto and Geraldine Thompson of Orlando voted for the special session by Friday. Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, recorded his no vote on Tuesday. Rep. Mike Miller, R-Orlando, voted for the special session on Tuesday.

Reps. Rene Plasencia, R-Orlando, Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, Mike LaRosa, R-St. Cloud, Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, all registered no votes on Tuesday.

The only Republican senator to vote for the session was Sen. Anitere Flores of Miami. The only Democrats to vote against it are Reps. Michelle Rehwinkle-Vasilinda of Tallahassee and Katie Edwards of Plantation.

Although the idea of blocking gun sales to those on the terror watch list is dead for now, Democrats say they’ll be bringing more gun control measures back for the 2017 legislative session."We had a rational response to discuss and debate in the aftermath of the mass murder of 49 people and the shooting of scores more in our state by a terrorist. It will still be reasonable and favored by a wide majority of people when the Legislature does come into session,” state Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Coral Springs, said in a prepared statement late Friday.

Material from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.

So once again..... she votes yes for a Special Session for Gun Control on July 5, 2016 and on July 6, 2016 she send her letter to Marion Hammer begging for an endorsement and claiming to be supportive.

And the NRA didn't think to do a little research before they gave her the endorsement again?

It took me five minutes on Google to find this news story.

The way NRA endorses Politicians needs to be revamped big time.

[Shenna9220]

Put together a recall petition if you feel that strongly.

[Miami_JBT]

Florida has no recall provisions for elected state officials. Only city and county can be recalled.

[Ralgha]

Why do people continue to believe that Republican politicians actually support gun rights? They don't! What do guns do? Equalize power. Who doesn't want that? The people in power. Who's in power? Politicians (among others).

They simply play a role in the stage production that is our political system to divide and direct our attention. When they have a chance to actually do something for gun rights, they don't.

Gun rights will be improved by the idealists in power (there are some, but few), by convincing the politicians that opposing guns is more of a threat to their career than an armed insurrection is, by referendum, or by judicial edict. Most politicians WILL NOT do it on their own, doesn't matter which side of the aisle they claim to sit on.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Miami JBT

So once again..... she votes yes for a Special Session for Gun Control on July 5, 2016 and on July 6, 2016 she send her letter to Marion Hammer begging for an endorsement and claiming to be supportive.

I'm not suggesting that anyone support or endorse her, but she did not write to the NRA on July 6 asking for an endorsement. On July 6 she returned a questionnaire that the NRA sent her -- she just attached a cover letter, nowhere in which does she ask for an endorsement (at least, not directly). In other words, this letter was not something that she initiated. It was a response to the NRA.

[Tom Servo]

This thread has the potential to turn into partisan sniping, and that's something we don't do here. We try to avoid Republican/Democrat or conservative/liberal debates, and let's not badmouth specific officials. Criticism of practices and policies is good; insults are not.

[44 AMP]

Ok, the problem (as I see it) you are bringing up is, politician votes "with the anti-gunners" one day, and asks for NRA support the very next day, and NRA gives it, so you are questioning the NRA's judgment about this, both in general, and in this particular.

I do agree, we should not support "turncoats", however, is this really what we have here???

Based entirely on the information you provided, I think you are making too big a deal about what is a coincidence of timing. I think you need to consider this, more carefully.

.Rep. Bob Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, said the call for a special session was a political stunt with poor timing. Plus, state law enforcement officials wouldn’t have access to the federal terror watch list, so the remedy wouldn’t do much, he said.

As previously mentioned, a LOT of what goes on in our legislatures is favor for favor exchange, and the appearance of supporting a specific cause, by voting in favor of something with no real chance of actually doing anything, is a valid and useful bargaining chip.

A special session is a "lets get together and talk about this". It's not passage of specific legislation, though such legislation may be expected to result from a special session. Agreeing to talk to the other side over an issue, (any issue) is not the same thing as sponsoring legislation, and promoting it specifically, or advocating restrictions in general, in public speeches.

Has the politician you are concerned about done any of that???

IMPLYING that voting to discuss an issue is demonstrating support for either side if the issue is propaganda, and something both sides of the issue practice, though for opposite reasons.

Without additional evidence, I don't think we should be so quick to declare "treason" to the cause. Suspicion might be warranted, but I don't see enough evidence (so far) for a conviction, even by the low standards of the court of public opinion.

yet.

[Miami_JBT]

On March 7, 2017 she flat out stated she will not support open carry or campus carry. Senator Rene Garcia told Shayna Lopez Rivas, a FSU student that was raped on Campus in 2014 that he doesn't support Campus Carry. And he said that after she told him she was a rape victim. He eaid this right in front of me.

In 2016 and 2015, it was Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla with the blessing of Senate President Andy Gardiner killing open carry and campus carry. He had a A rating also.

In 2014 it was Representative Charles McBurney. Same deal.

In 2011 it was Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff gutting Open Carry SB 234 via amendment with the support of Marion Hammer (NRA Rep). She also had an A rating. And in 2011, it was already on the Senate floor.

This is a big deal. Every year, the GOP uses A rated Senators or Representatives to kill pro gun legislation.

[Miami_JBT]

The latest from Anitere Flores....

"Anything that goes beyond that (checking firearms at the courthouse door) I will not allow in the Senate. My word and my commitment is something that I hold to be very sacred.” – tallahassee.com

Her word is something important? She voted in favor of gun control and the next day told the NRA that government has no right to regulate and infringe on gun rights!