Florida has seen its share of mass gun violence — the Orlando nightclub shooting two years ago, the massacre this year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
But Gov. Rick Scott[1], a Republican, is not backing down in his support for gun rights as he tries to unseat longtime Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson[2], who is signaling plans to make guns an issue.
Long a holder of the National Rifle Association[3]’s top rating of A+, Mr. Scott[4] has backed the state’s laws in favor of concealed carry permits, sales tax waivers on licenses, and even allowing people without a concealed carry license to be armed during emergencies like hurricanes.
In the wake of the February shooting in Parkland, he signed legislation allowing some faculty to be armed — but the law also raised the age at which a firearm can be purchased from 18 to 21. The NRA[5] was opposed, while gun control advocates said the legislation didn’t go far enough.
“We’re not going to run away from the issue,” said Scott[6] campaign communications director Ryan Patmintra. “The governor is an NRA[7] member, a proud supporter of the Second Amendment, and his actions following Parkland were swift and measured.
“I think what gets lost in all the buzz following the tragedy is that the families who lost children in that horrific shooting asked policymakers for two things: make our schools safer and keep guns out of the hands of people who would do harm,” he said. “Nelson[8] may not want to admit it, but the legislation the governor passed marked the most significant move toward accomplishing those goals than any level of government has made.”
Mr. Nelson[9] says it’s not enough.
In a campaign email to supporters last week he spotlighted the outsized role his state has played in recent gun tragedies, with 17 dead at Stoneman Douglas and 49 people killed at Pulse nightclub by an Islamic State backer who used a legally purchased semiautomatic rifle and pistol for his deadly spree.
“Far too many Floridians know the damage and heartbreak a single weapon of war can cause,” the campaign wrote in a fundraising email Tuesday. “Yet Congress has not lifted a finger to prevent these tragedies from ever happening again. It’s outrageous. We owe it to the victims and their families to do more.”...
Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was among the students killed in Parkland and who resigned June 7 from a state safety commission formed after the massacre, said it’s Mr. Scott[10] who’s got it right.“Sen. Nelson[11] politicized the whole event when the main issue is school safety,” Mr. Pollack said. “The governor reached out and really stepped up. He called me, he showed up at my house, he went to the