Florida Republicans have proposed a "Constitutional Carry" bill that would allow gun owners to permitless carry a firearm in the state. With Republicans supporting the bill, Democrats have chided the legislation. In an exclusive interview with The Floridian, Rep. Maxwell Frost (D) called the bill "disgraceful."
"It's disgraceful. It's horrible," Rep. Frost expressed when asked to share his thoughts on the legislation. In fact, he's disappointed in the bill because it comes close to the 5th anniversary of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting. That being said, "this is what Republican leaders in Florida are bringing up? Any gun, anywhere, any place, no permit?" he questioned.
"That's not common sense," Rep. Frost assessed before asserting that the majority of gun owners do not support permitless carry.
"Most NRA members are actually not for legislation like that. Most Republicans aren't either if you look at the polls. The majority of NRA members and Republicans are for things like universal background checks, common sense gun reform," Frost added, commenting that "at the end of the day, this is something that the majority of people in Florida are not for, but it's probably gonna pass because of the way the cards are stacked up against us."
When asked to share his thoughts on the message that this would send to Floridians, Frost assured that it was "a negative message." He explained that "legislation and rhetoric like that exacerbate the issue... legislation like this, I think, is going to result in death... it's not going to bring us closer to the solution."
As Frost mentioned, law enforcement officers and Sheriffs are against the legislation, and he notes that they oppose it because "it doesn't allow us to have the systems that we need to ensure that we have a good system."
"I don't believe we need to walk around and disarm every American citizen contrary to popular belief and what you might read and see, but at the end of the day, there are common sense measures... that I think the majority of people believe in, and this is not one of them," he clarified.
Ultimately, Frost, who has taken it upon himself to end gun violence across the nation, added, "this is a horrible piece of legislation. It's gonna result in death."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to signed the measure into law.
“The Legislature will get it done. I can’t tell you if it will be next week, six months, but I can tell you that before I am done as governor we will have a signature on that bill,” said Gov. DeSantis.
