When the Florida GOP and the rapid response team for Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds went after the Democrat's presumptive nominee David Jolly over his anti-Second Amendment views last week, their posts generated a flurry of responses on social media, including a tweet from Gun Owners of America's Florida State Director Luis Valdes, who called the party hypocritical for blasting Jolly while "ignoring anti-gun Republicans" in the legislature who have stymied efforts to undo some of the state's restrictive laws.
.@FloridaGOP's hypocrisy in slamming @davidjollyfl while ignoring anti-gun Republicans like @RepCassel is thicker than Florida's summer humidity—and twice as suffocating.
— Luis Valdes (@RealFLGunLobby) July 30, 2025
Cassel voted against repealing gun control, TWICE THIS SESSION! She voted against permitless carry too. https://t.co/nP4v6AF3qA pic.twitter.com/irOYlG6Jdj
It took a few days, but the mainstream media is now picking up on Valdes' post on X, with the Palm Beach Post framing it as part of a "GOP fight over gun rights" that reveals a "deep Second Amendment divide". While giving passing attention to some of Jolly's past statements and support for a wide variety of gun control laws, USA Today Network reporter James Call's article focuses more on Valdes' criticism of the Florida legislature, where despite Republican supermajorities bills repealing the state's ban on open carry and gun sales to adults younger than 21 have failed to gain traction in the state Senate.
Talking while the impromptu gun debate played out on X, Valdes said he thinks Jolly is wrong on Second Amendment rights, but said "going after David Jolly but not anti-gun Republicans is hypocritical."
He said Florida GOP leaders, especially the seven Republican state senators, including Senate President Ben Albritton and former President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, who voted for the Stoneman Douglas law have repeatedly shown to be anti-gun so he is surprised the RPOF would try to wave a pro-gun banner.
Valdes cited a list of proposals that went unheard in committees during the 2025 session that would have repealed the under 21 bans on firearm purchases, concealed carry, campus carry, and the bump stock ban.
“All these major pro-guns legislation was blocked by Republican lawmakers and the Republican Party of Florida has the nerve to claim it’s pro-gun to go after David Jolly, that seems a bit hypocritical, doesn’t it,” Valdes said.
The media would much rather talk about conservative infighting on Second Amendment issues than Jolly's knee-jerk support for almost every gun control policy imaginable, but to be fair, several Senate Republicans have given the media the opening they needed to divert attention away from Jolly's anti-2A views.
As Valdes himself notes, much of the problem stems from Senate leadership, not rank-and-file Republicans in the legislature. In fact, at least one of the bills that never received a committee hearing in the Senate actually passed the House by a wide margin. The repeal of the under-21 gun sale ban sailed through the House on a 78-34 vote back in March, only to fall victim to Senate leadership's unwillingness to consider the measure.
The Republican Party of Florida, as a whole, though, is arguably supportive of the Second Amendment; and far more so than Florida Democrats in general and David Jolly specifically. And I don't expect the state party to highlight the squishiness of some state senators within their ranks when they're trying to persuade gun owners to vote red next November.
Having said that, Valdes is right to call out the party for ignoring the gun control supporters within its ranks; not only when it comes to the governor's race but throughout the 2025 session. And the Florida GOP is delusional if its leaders don't think that the inaction from Passidomo, Albritton, and others won't have an impact next November. I don't think large numbers of Second Amendment advocates are going to cast a protest vote for Jolly or other anti-gun Democrats, but there's a real danger of 2A activists sitting at home on Election Day, or at the very least not engaging in grassroots get-out-the-vote efforts between now and next November.
It's not the job of GOA (or any other pro-Second Amendment organization) to blindly support Republican candidates or elected officials. Their mission is to defend, secure, and strengthen our right to keep and bear arms, and when members of the party that claims to be pro-2A are actively working to keep gun control laws in place they deserve to be called out by groups like Gun Owners of America.
If the Florida GOP doesn't want to bring up the gun control supporters in their own ranks while attacking Jolly for his own support for gun control, fine. The problem is that, by and large, the Republican Party in Florida doesn't want to have this discussion at all. There are some notable exceptions, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, but until party leadership is willing to address the anti-gun elephant in the committee room the Florida GOP is going to continue to get a chilly reception from many 2A activists.
