Vice President Kamala Harris' trip to Parkland Saturday was advertised as honoring the Joe Biden administration's commitment to gun safety, but her party says there are electoral implications also.
"This visit demonstrates their commitment to Florida as a battleground in 2024 and highlights the action Democrats are taking to address gun violence. While Florida Republicans used this legislation session attempting to roll back Parkland-era gun reform, the Biden-Harris administration has shown leadership on gun violence prevention since day one, passing the first major bipartisan gun safety legislation in 30 years and creating the first Office of Gun Violence Prevention together with our own Congressman Maxwell Frost."
The question of whether Florida is a battleground has been litigated, and will be throughout the election.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, a frequent foil for Harris, has excoriated the Democrats' "dumb" decision to cancel the Presidential Preference Primary as a move to protect Biden from the voters, and has said Florida is no longer a "one-point state." Democrats, led by FDP Chair Nikki Fried, contend Florida is in play.
Harris, who oversees the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, will visit Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and willl meet with families of some of the 14 students and three teachers killed by a former student back on Valentine's Day, 2018.
She will meet with families whose loved ones were murder and tour the school, before highlighting the administration's approach to gun safety in a prepared statement. Before heading back to D.C., she will also participate in a memorial moment of silence.
The heinous act inspired Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. That measure blocks gun sales to those under the age of 21, mandates a three-day waiting period before buying a firearm, bans bump stocks, arms some school personnel, mandates a law enforcement presence in schools and allows police to confiscate guns from people perceived to be a threat.
Sen. Rick Scott, who was Governor in 2018, contrasted his administration's signature piece of gun legislation with the approach of the Biden White House in a statement ahead of her visit.
"The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act improved school safety in Florida and has helped law enforcement make appropriate interventions with people who pose a threat of violence to themselves or others while robustly protecting due process rights that stop unlawful infringement on the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Floridians. This stands in stark contrast to the Biden-Harris administration's push for nationwide implementation of radical policies, like California's red flag law, which abandons due process to more quickly and easily take constitutional rights away from law-abiding Americans. That is unacceptable."
No comments:
Post a Comment