Official Communication by Marion P. Hammer
Unified Sportsmen of Florida Executive Director
NRA Past President
Florida – -(AmmoLand.com)- Florida House Legislators Heard Your Voices And Passed HB-259.
On Thursday, March 25, 2021, the full Florida House of Representatives met and heard HB-259 Sponsored by Rep. Jayer Williamson & Rep. Cord Byrd. During the Q&A period, anti-gun legislators were allowed to question sponsors. Then, under the rules, the bill, then “rolled over” until the next House floor session.
Today, Friday, March 26, 2021, the full House came back into session. HB-259 was up for debate and then PASSED by a VOTE of 76-37!
HB-259 RESTORES the private property rights of religious institutions AND the self-defense rights of people who go to church.
Churchgoers, who are licensed by the state to carry firearms for self-defense, are currently being deprived of the same rights they have when they go shopping, go into a business, or onto any other private property. This bill fixes that.
The bill now goes to the Florida Senate.
Background
By law, under Florida Statutes in s.790.06 law-abiding citizens may receive licenses to carry concealed weapons and firearms (CWL) for lawful purposes.
Places where license holders are NOT AUTHORIZED to carry firearms are listed in s.790.06(12). Nothing in that section prohibits license holders from carrying in churches, synagogues or other religious institutions.
Nonetheless, anti-gun agitators have inserted language in other parts of the statutes that have been interpreted to prohibit firearms in religious institutions if any kind of child care is ever conducted, at any time, on the private property of the church, synagogue, or other religious institution. That means if child care is conducted Monday-Friday from 9-5, no firearms are EVER allowed at any time including on Saturday or Sunday or any holiday.
This bill will put a stop to that and will allow license holders to carry on church property (just like any other private property) unless the church prohibits it.
There are over 2 Million firearms license holders in our state. They are around children all day, every day, in places where parents take children shopping or anywhere outside the home. They pose no danger to children or anyone else. Nobody even knows who is and who is not carrying.
About Unified Sportsmen of Florida;
Unified Sportsmen of Florida was organized in 1976 for the purpose of protecting the firearms rights of all law-abiding firearms owners in Florida.
Contact:
Unified Sportsmen of Florida
110-A South Monroe Street
P.O.Box 1387
Tallahassee, Florida 32302
850-222-9518
I am reasonably comfortable with South Carolina’s gun laws. We can carry (legally) carry in a church with the blessing of the pastor or a deacon. We have plenty of room for improvement, as does just about anywhere, but we have always had the church carry option with our permits.
Sadly, the church I was doing security at (gratis) embraced the masking and vaccine rot. I began to suspect that my pastor is a FEMA “Clergy Response Team” member so I stopped doing that.