Florida is one of the reddest states in the nation. I've heard a politician down that way brag that it's the freest state in the country, and a lot of people believe it, in part because it's such a red state.
But on guns, they're anything but free, and it looks like the state Republican Party is a big part of why that's the case.
Where I live, I'm pretty close to Florida, It's the go-to destination not just for vacations, but weekend trips for a lot of people. Panama City Beach is a popular place for folks living here when they want the beach, in part because it's a lot closer than the Georgia beaches. So, I follow gun laws down that way.
Since I can't vote there, though, I don't pay as much attention to the movers and shakers as I might here in Georgia.
Luis Valdes, from Gun Owners of America, does.
On Monday, he posted this on X.
🚨DeSantis SLAMS RINO Traitors in Florida GOP!🚨@GovRonDeSantis BLASTS @FloridaGOP for embracing anti-gun @RepCassel.
— Luis Valdes (@RealFLGunLobby) April 7, 2025
First thing she did as a Republican?
Oppose repealing the under-21 gun purchase ban, by voting against it not one, but TWICE! https://t.co/0LO8hqNvvp pic.twitter.com/b93euDKi6x
Now, I'm willing to side with anyone who is pro-gun when it comes to guns. I'll take a pro-gun liberal in the gun debate over an anti-gun Republican any day of the week.
That said, we all know that the general rule is that Democrats are going to be anti-gun and Republicans are more likely to be pro-gun.
Yet what we have in Florida appears to be a case of a lot of anti-gun Democrats recognizing that their national party's brand is tainted for various reasons, especially in the eyes of many Floridians, and so they simply switch parties, while changing literally nothing else about the way they vote.
Rep. Hillary Cassel, noted above, represents a very Jewish district. Democrats have largely been blasting Israel and talking up Hamas in Washington, which wouldn't make Cassel attractive to her constituents. So, she flipped to Republican, was welcomed by the party with open arms, and hasn't stopped voting for the leftist stuff she supported before.
This wasn't a conversion so much as a political drag show.
It seems that this is kind of typical in the Sunshine State.
See, a lot of Democrats recognized where things were heading, so they switched parties, but not because the parties had moved away from them or anything. They just knew they'd never get elected again as Democrats.
They still vote the same way.
On gun issues, this manifests as them giving a little lip service here and there to gun rights, passing some inconsequential measures, and pretending that's enough while ignoring things like open carry, which gun rights advocates have been chomping at the bit over for years.
Right now, one bill with some legs involves a measure that would prohibit gun confiscation during emergencies. While I don't oppose the bill, it's also kind of a non-issue in Florida as it stands. They get hit with hurricanes annually, and it's never been an issue, even during the worst of them. That is getting a hearing today, as a matter of fact, while open carry isn't ever getting a vote because the Senate president is listening to police chiefs and not the rank-and-file cops, but pretending she's just being all law-and-order.
The truth, though, is that you can't really blame the politicians.
They'll only do what they're rewarded to do. If gun rights advocates can't get these lukewarm jackwagons out and replace them with actual pro-gun lawmakers, this will continue.
And this doesn't apply just to Florida. This is nationwide.
In Texas, a red district turned down a strong gun-rights supporter in Brandon Herrera in exchange for anti-gun Republican Tony Gonzalez in the 2024 congressional race. They could have made a difference, but didn't.
And that happens all over the place.
We've got to stop just taking the "R" after someone's name as a sign that they're pro-gun enough. They're not.
