Florida Open Carry & Campus Carry Bills – Different Actors, Same Stink

by Phillip Evans

Florida Senators Negron and Flores
Florida Senators Negron and Flores
AmmoLand Gun News
AmmoLand Gun News

Florida – -(Ammoland.com)- I’ve said before, more than once, and will say it again – I believe Senator Greg Steube to be a true Patriot and Defender of our rights.

I trust him the most of all the Florida Senators, to the point that one day I laid out all my frustration and anger at his feet in a public email that a few saw as an attack on him. An actual reading of everything I wrote, mixed with a little common sense would reveal that was not the case at all.

Anyway, I digress, so on to the topic at hand…

March 8th 2017, in a Palm Beach Post article titled, “Courthouse-carry advances but other gun bills could struggle in Senate”, Senator Steube was quoted as stating, “I certainly think we’re moving in a direction that I would like to see us move.”

Sen. Steube did his best to put a melancholy smile at the end of what looks like the demise of his best pro-carry bills: legalized, licensed open carry of pistols, campus carry, and airport carry (in non-sterile areas). The “moving in the right direction” referred to bills that allow citizens to carry their handguns up to the courthouse checkpoint to surrender them to storage until ready to leave, and the burden of proof “Stand Your Ground” bill.

Well, in this case, “moving in the right direction” is like starting a horse race with a fast stallion, only to hop right off and get on a stubborn jackass that only takes an occasional step. Yeah, you’re still “moving in the right direction”. Woohoo – let’s break out the champagne! We’ll get there somewhere over the rainbow!

Okay, I know, I know. Sen. Steube is being a gentleman here, and doesn’t want to rock the boat anymore for some reason (resigned acceptance of defeat?). He figures we got what we got and it ain’t gonna get any better until who knows when.

Oh..Heck..No!

Now is NOT the time to play nice or accept defeat! There are times when you need to let the TIGER out! When legislation that could save human lives is on the line, NOW IS THAT TIME! No more DELAY! Florida has infringed on our rights for YEARS!

If I were Sen. Steube, I’d be banging the folder holding my bills on a chair in the Senate chamber yelling, “What is going on here?! Are we just going to sit back while the same kind of FIX unfolds again this session? Time to flush the toilet!”

Diaz de la Portilla was torpedo number one last year, and Turncoat Senate President Pro Tempore Anitere Flores (appointed by Sen. Negron) is torpedo number two (pun intended) this year. And there were other RINOs before them that orchestrated the killing of pro-liberty bills that would remove the threat of jail and fines for licensed adult citizens who would like to openly carry a holstered pistol (legal in 45 other states), and keep themselves safe on a college campus.

Former Senator Andy Gardiner (last year’s Senate President) was no strong supporter of our rights, and so he let Portilla have his way in blocking open carry and campus carry. No surprise there.

Supposedly, things were going to be better this year with Senator Joe Negron being the new Senate President. At least that was what was talked up in multiple online articles – just do a little Googling on that and you’ll find the rosy predictions. Ha!

Now, apparently according to Sen. Steube, Sen. Negron will LET THE SAME THING HAPPEN ALL OVER AGAIN. Cover for timid RINOs who only want to talk about restoring our rights?

The Senate President has the AUTHORITY to yank ANY bill from one committee and put it into a more favorable one. Sen. Negron can also put the bills directly on the Senate floor for a full and honest vote.

Did you notice that Senate President Negron has NEVER stated that his hands were tied? That’s because they AREN’T! What is he waiting for? The Florida Legislative Session to end?

He supposedly is a libertarian-style Republican who values LIBERTY and talks up our RIGHTS. Well, let’s see the proof in the pudding! Will this be just another case of lip service? A case of better luck next time?

If Sen. Negron lets open carry and campus carry die again, he will prove he is not a true friend of liberty. He will prove that his loyalty to Sen. Anitere Flores is greater than his loyalty to Florida’s citizens.

Senator Negron, let’s see your cards. Are you a card carrying Patriot, or just another card carrying RINO? One can talk a good game before it starts, but when it gets to game time you gotta deliver. Tell us NOW what your decision is, sir. Don’t run out the clock.

If Sen. Negron does the right thing, I will be the first to apologize for joining alongside Sen. Steube in doubting Negron.

But in the meantime: Senator Negron, stop giving political cover to RINOs that are too timid to publicly vote on bills that restore our FREEDOM!

Contact Sen. Negron to ask him to move forward ALL of Senator Steube’s pro-carry, self-defense liberty bills.

About Phillip Evans:

The author is a self-defense rights advocate and member of the NRA, GeorgiaCarry.org, and FloridaCarry.org, and posts at PursuitOfPatriotism.Blogspot.com.