"We Will Not Comply": FL GOP Liberty Caucus Vows To Resist Gun Ban

There’s currently an effort underway to get a referendum to ban so-called “assault weapons” on the 2020 ballot in Florida, and while the effort appears to be falling far short of the required number of signatures to be successful, some Second Amendment supporters aren’t taking anything for granted.

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The Republican Liberty Caucus has approved a “resolution of non-compliance,” according to Florida Today, which reports the group is also one of several sponsors of a Monday forum that will focus on the proposed gun ban.

The resolution of noncompliance approved by the Republican Liberty Caucus read in part that “we, the lawful citizens of the state of Florida and the United States of America, do hereby resolve to defy and resist any and all registration or confiscation attempts of our lawfully owned arms, and that we will not comply with any orders to do so, as all laws or amendments that require such are illegal, a direct assault on our constitutionally protected rights, and therefore automatically null and void by default, regardless of what any constitutionally ignorant voters, judges, law enforcement officials or legislators may say to the contrary.”

“This is a drawing a line in the sand kind of thing,” said Bob White of Suntree, chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida and its local affiliate, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Central East Florida.

White said members of his organization plan to defy to constitutional amendment if it makes the ballot and is approved by voters.

“We’ve never done anything as strident as this,” White said, while adding that “an unconstitutional law is no law at all.”

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Outright vowing not to abide by a law is a pretty strident step all right, but one well within the tradition of civil disobedience in this country. Of course, with any act of civil disobedience, one has to be willing to face the consequences. As the ballot proposal is worded, existing owners of any banned firearms wouldn’t be required to turn them in, but they would be required to register their firearms with the state, which many believe to be a precursor for an eventual confiscation further down the road.

For now anyway, the vow of noncompliance comes without consequence. Let’s hope that it never has to be put to the test, though if Florida ever does pass a ban on the most commonly produced rifle in the United States, I suspect far more than just the members of the Republican Liberty Caucus will be defiantly asserting that they will not comply.

 

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