March 22, 2018

Action Alert:
Remind Florida House Speaker He Takes Orders from Voters, Not NRA


After supporting a historic package of post-Parkland gun control reforms that were signed into law by Florida Governor Rick Scott, state House Speaker Richard Corcoran (R-37th) is under attack by the NRA and reacting poorly.

Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran has been on the receiving end of orders from the NRA’s lobbyist in Tallahassee, Marion Hammer, for too many years.

Florida’s new law allows for the arming of school staff (but only after the approval of the school superintendent and local sheriff), but it also raises the minimum age to purchase a long gun in Florida to 21, institutes a 3-day waiting period for all firearm sales, bans bump stocks, and allows law enforcement to temporarily seize firearms from violent individuals through Risk Protection Orders.

These policies triggered the ire of NRA Florida lobbyist Marion Hammer, who sent out an alert on March 19, 2018 attacking Corcoran by name. Corcoran, who is already facing a challenge on guns from the man he will face in an upcoming GOP primary for Florida governor, was clearly frightened by Hammer’s alert. He responded by writing a letter to the Constitution Revision Commission, a 36-member panel considering amendments to Florida’s state constitution that will be put in front of voters in ballot referendums in November 2018. Corcoran told the commission not to consider any gun control amendments, calling gun ownership a “fundamental right” that should touched only by legislators like himself. Regrettably, the commission has already rejected two such proposed amendments, one of them an assault weapons ban.

Please contact Speaker Corcoran through one of the channels below and give him the following message (personalized to your liking):

Speaker Corcoran, I am calling on you to retract your ill-advised letter to the Constitution Revision Commission regarding gun control amendments it might consider during the course of its work. You apparently believe that you can be elected governor of Florida by resuming your position of submission to NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer. I can assure you there is no electorate for such a governor in Florida anymore.  Even if you prevail in a primary, your support of regressive gun policy will be an albatross in the general. You did a good thing by supporting new gun control reforms in a compromise bill. Those policies are going to save some lives in your state. But now you have to stand by that good decision if you hope to continue to win elections. People are tired of you taking direct orders from this ridiculous lobbyist who acts like a would-be monarch. It’s time for you to serve the voters of your district, and Florida as a whole, by offering reliable support for gun reform. If not, I will see you at the polls the next time you run for anything. Gonna call your donors, too.

Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran
Phone: (850) 717-5000
Email: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/emailrepresentative.aspx?MemberId=4503&SessionId=86 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RichardCorcoran/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/richardcorcoran

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