Preemption is the idea that local governments can’t create their own gun control laws. Instead, those laws must come from the state itself. It’s a tool used to prevent states from becoming an unnavigable patchwork of gun laws that no one can keep up with.

I mean, there’s a problem with the idea that someone might become a criminal because they stopped for gas on the wrong side of the city limits.

Many states have some version of preemption. One of those is Florida. Now, a bill seeks to repeal it.

Sen. Annette Taddeo and Rep. Dan Daley have introduced legislation to allow municipalities to pass stricter gun regulations by undoing an existing state preemption law.

The two Democrats have stumped for more local control in the past. But those efforts have gone nowhere in the GOP-controlled Legislature and are likely to meet significant resistance again.

Still, the lawmakers have returned to the issue, filing legislation (SB 496, HB 6049) ahead of the 2022 Legislative Session to undo the state preemption law.

“Gun violence is a nationwide problem that requires all hands on deck to solve; restricting local officials from doing their part to combat this effort is dangerous,” Taddeo said Thursday in a written statement backing her and Daley’s proposal.

Daley, whose district covers Parkland, Florida, thinks local officials should have more say in the matter.

Which would be fine if I actually believed him.

See, what people like Taddeo and Daley want isn’t local control. They don’t want local governments to be free to set whatever gun control levels they want or feel they need. What they want is for local governments to be free only to make gun control more strict.

If it were really about local governments having more control, they’d be willing to acknowledge that some localities might prefer even less gun control than the state has on the books.

Neither of these two would support that, though, which is how I know they’re more full of it than a manure truck.

There’s an upside to this, though, and that’s in the fact that there’s no way this bill goes anywhere. While Florida hasn’t made the pro-gun moves it should have in recent years, there’s absolutely no chance the legislature actually passes this and that Gov. Ron DeSantis actually signs it into law.

You’ve got a better chance of the L.A. Lakers winning the Superbowl. (And no, I did not mix up my sports on this. I know precisely what I said.)

Honestly, this bill is going nowhere. This is a couple of state-level lawmakers hoping to signal to their party that they hold the correct opinions and should be considered for higher office. Maybe they’ll get tapped to run in a blue congressional district so they can go to Washington or something, but they’re not seeing this bill make it into law.

What’s more, they know it. But, they have to virtue signal whenever they can, and this is a big old signal for anyone who cares to look.

As for me, I’ll point and laugh at them.