In the wake of FSU, it's unsurprising that the gun debate has resurfaced in Florida. So far, that hasn't resulted in a new push for gun control, but it has made it far more likely some past mistakes will remain at least for a little time longer.
And a new poll says 80 percent of Floridians want that. They need a serious wake-up call.
The poll comes from Florida Atlantic University, where it says that many respondents want the post-Parkland laws to remain in place.
In the wake of the Florida State University shooting, a MediaLab poll released this week found that 80% of Florida voters oppose lowering the age to purchase a gun back to 18. It was raised to 21 after the devastating 2018 Parkland shooting.
The vast majority of Florida voters are not in favor of changing the age limit for purchasing a firearm, according to a new poll released last week by MediaLab@FAU, working in conjunction with Florida Atlantic University’s PolCom Lab.
The results of the poll, conducted between April 4 and 9 by Mainstreet Research, indicate that despite ongoing efforts by state politicians to put the age for acquiring a firearm back to 18 from its current 21, most Florida voters prefer to keep guns out of the hands of teenagers.
Of all of the questions posed in the poll initiated by MediaLab@FAU’s advanced journalism students, who drafted questions aimed at capturing the mood of Floridians towards the end of the state legislative session (May 2) as well as President Trump’s first 100 days in office (April 30), this one came back with the clearest, seemingly bipartisan answer.
Voters were asked: “Should Florida legislators change the age for gun purchases, now 21, back to 18?” A remarkable 80% of Florida voters answered no. Only 12.8% responded with a yes, while 7% were unsure about their answer.
Now, the reason why I say they need a wake-up call?
That restriction did literally nothing to prevent the FSU shooting. That alone shows that the law is useless except in punishing adults under 21 who did absolutely nothing wrong.
The alleged killer stole a gun from his mother--and the fact that he was 20 years old means that no mandatory storage law on the planet would stop him from being able to do so--and then initiated his attack with that handgun. The law that is apparently so beloved accomplished something that can be found between the words "jack" and "squat."
The fact that people can't seem to grok this, while also ignoring the fact that the laws on the books meant that not a single soul around the FSU student union building could be lawfully armed and thus able to fight back.
Killers don't need the laws to allow them to do things. If the law discouraged them, the laws against murder would be sufficient. I mean, that's what stops a surprising number of people from reducing the population of the planet by one, even though they'd really like to.
Gun control not only failed to stop FSU, it couldn't stop FSU.
And yet, these people seem to think that the law is doing some kind of good?
It's not. It may well be making people less safe by depriving legal adults of their constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms.
Unfortunately, part of the problem is the supposedly pro-gun political part that holds a supermajority in the state legislature. They have the voices to educate the public about why these laws need to be repealed. They have the voices and the bully pulpits to explain how the laws failed at FSU.
Instead, they uphold this status quo and do nothing to look out for the Second Amendment.
It's disgusting.
