The NRA’s top lobbyist in Florida has implied that children would be disappointed if they did not get guns for their birthdays in her opposition to a proposed weapons ban.
Marion Hammer is considered an influential gun lobbyists and is currently leading the charge against a proposal to place a constitutional amendment on the Florida ballot in 2020 to ban assault weapons.
Hammer, 80, addressed the issue at a meeting of Florida economists on Friday.
The Tampa Bay Times Times reported her as saying: ‘How do you tell a 10-year-old little girl who got with a pink stock for her birthday that her rifle is an assault weapon and she has to turn it over to government or be arrested for felony possession?.’
Marion Hammer, (pictured), an NRA lobbyist in Florida, implied that children would be disappointed if they did not get guns for their birthdays in her opposition to a proposed weapons ban
She spoke for the first time since two gun-related massacres in El Paso and Dayton occurred on the same day two weeks ago.
The amendment would ban the sale of assault rifles in Florida in the future and current owners would have to either register them with the state or give them up, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
She argued the proposed amendment will not protect major gun manufacturers in the state, which produce weapons that would be outlawed by the ban.
‘If I were the owner of one of these firearm manufacturing companies, I wouldn’t wait to see what voters do. If this were allowed to go on the ballot, I’d say, “I’m outta here”.’
Hammer was the first female president of the National Rifle Association and in a profile the New Yorker wrote that she carries a handgun in her purse.
‘Her policies have elevated Florida’s gun owners to a uniquely privileged status, and made the public carrying of firearms a fact of daily life in the state,’ The New Yorker wrote about Hammer in 2018.
The amendment has to pass several obstacles before it can go before voters in 2020, including passing a legal review by the state Supreme Court.
It was reported last month that Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the state Supreme Court to disqualify a proposed ballot measure seeking to ban assault weapons, saying the measure goes too far in outlawing the possession of all semi-automatic long guns.
Attorney General Ashley Moody asked the state Supreme Court to disqualify a proposed ballot measure seeking to ban assault weapons, saying the measure goes too far in outlawing the possession of all semi-automatic long guns
The assault weapons ban in Florida is supported by Ban Assault Weapons Now, a group that has collected over 100,000 signatures to call for it to be balloted
The assault weapons ban in Florida is supported by Ban Assault Weapons Now, a group that has garnered over 100,000 signatures to ensure that the measure is included on a ballot.
The group is led by Gail Schwartz is the leader of the group. She is the aunt of Alex Schachter, who was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Shareblue reported.
Massive student protests across the country reshaped the U.S. debate on firearms after Nickolas Cruz, a former student at the Parkland school, was charged with killing 17 people with a semiautomatic rifle in a five-and-a-half-minute shooting spree at the school on February 14, 2018.
Twenty states passed some form of gun regulation last year, including nine states with a Republican governor, according to the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.
Florida, one of the most gun-friendly states in the country, quickly imposed a three-day waiting period for gun purchases and raised the age limit for buying rifles from 18 to 21.
Gail Schwartz is the chairwoman of Ban Assault Weapons Now which is lobbying in favor of the proposed assault weapons ban in Florida
Schwartz is the aunt of Alex Schachter, (pictured), who was killed in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland last year
Meanwhile, the Democratic-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee said on Friday it will cut short its summer recess and meet in September to consider new gun control legislation in response to back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
The panel will prepare a series of bills for consideration by the full House of Representatives.
It will also include a measure to prevent people convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes from purchasing firearms and a “red flag” bill to deny guns to those deemed to be a danger to themselves and others.
Lawmakers will also hold a September 25 hearing on military-style assault weapons.
‘El Pasoans want action and Congress has the power to end this horror,’ Representative Veronica Escobar said on Twitter. Escobar is a committee member whose district was stricken by an Aug. 3 mass shooting at a Walmart store, where a lone gunman with a military-style rifle killed 22 people.
The shootings in El Paso and Dayton killed a total of 31 people and propelled the wide availability of guns in the United States back to the forefront of political debate.
‘For far too long, politicians in Washington have only offered thoughts and prayers in the wake of gun violence tragedies.
‘Thoughts and prayers have never been enough. To keep our communities safe, we must act,’ Democratic Chairman Jerrold Nadler said in a statement.