WASHINGTON—Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz (R) has told The Floridian that the “National Stand Your Ground” legislative measure he recently proposed would be filed in the U.S. House of Representatives this week, but no later than the end of the month.
“We’re drafting the national stand your ground legislation now, we expect it to be filed in the coming days and certainly this year, and we’re gathering Republican support to abolish the duty to retreat nationwide,” said Rep. Gaetz.
But while the proposed measure is receiving widespread support from many Republicans, Rep. Byron Donalds (R) says he supports the “direction of the idea” but was a little concerned about how it would affect state’s rights.
“My concern is the impact of federal overreach against state powers,” said Rep. Donalds.
Another Florida Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R), also told The Floridian that he supported Rep. Gaetz’s proposal, but wanted to see how the bill was worded.
When asked about Rep. Donalds’s concern about the measure affecting state’s rights, Rep. Gaetz said he didn’t believe that “the duty to retreat in America should be defined by the states.”
“I don’t believe that the duty to retreat in American should one defined by the states,” said Gaetz. I believe we have a national interest in self-defense. I’ve studied closely how the Soviet Union eroded self-defense rights in order to push really bad things on their people, and its my hope that we can enshrine strong self-defense in every municipality, in every state, and jurisdiction.”
Gaetz is arguably one of the staunchest supporters of the 2nd Amendment in Florida. During his time in the Florida Legislature, Gaetz was referred to as the “Yosemite Sam” of the legislature for his effort to make Florida an “Open Carry” state.
