Florida should outlaw the sale of extended-size ammunition clips like those used in the Tucson shooting,
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/us/florida/palm-beach-county-PLGEO100100412000000.topicPalm Beach CountyCommissioner Burt Aaronson said Friday.
Aaronson called for state lawmakers to prohibit the sale of ammunition clips that hold more than 10 bullets. Aaronson said he also will ask the County Commission to pass a local ban.
The shooter that on Jan. 8 killed six people and injured 13, including U.S. Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords, used a Glock semi-automatic handgun with a high-capacity ammunition clip capable of holding more than 30 bullets.
"I don't see any reason for anybody in today's climate to be allowed to carry a gun with more than 10 bullets," said Aaronson, a Democrat who represents southern
Palm Beach County. "How many people do you want to kill? … How much firepower do you need to protect yourself?"
Aaronson's surprise proposal was first met with silence by the collection of Democratic and Republican state lawmakers at Friday's meeting of
Palm Beach County's state legislative delegation.
But after the meeting in
Palm Beach Gardens, new state Rep. Lori Berman agreed to add the ban to legislation she is proposing for the spring Legislative session. Friday was the deadline for filing legislation.
"We want to stop this kind of situation from occurring," Berman, D-
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/topic/u...ounty/delray-beach-PLGEO100100412050000.topicDelray Beach, said, referring to the Tucson shooting.
The National Rifle Association opposes outlawing the sale of the extra-capacity ammunition magazines.
"There's a certain group of people who will always seize on any tragedy to try to push their own political agenda," NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer said Friday. "What's this all about? Feel-good legislation? Getting attention?"
Extended-size ammunition clips, like those used in the Tucson shooting, were once outlawed by a federal assault-weapons ban that expired in 2004.
Banning high-capacity ammunition clips and other gun-control measures likely face an uphill political battle in Florida's Republican-controlled Legislature.
Aaronson's proposed
Palm Beach County ban on the extended-size ammunition magazines also may be pre-empted by state law. The NRA contends that in Florida, the state â€" not local governments â€" has the power to pass gun laws.
Palm Beach County Attorney Denise Nieman said Friday she was still researching the options.
"To be continued," Nieman said by e-mail Friday.
Palm Beach County this year is in the process of lifting its longstanding ban on guns in county parks. That's because the local ban conflicts with a state law that allows concealed-weapons permit holders to bring their guns to parks in Florida.
County officials have said they didn't know their local rule conflicted with the state law passed more than 20 years ago, but the NRA contends that
Palm Beach County and other local governments ignored state law.
The County Commission on Feb. 15 is scheduled to take its final vote on changing its parks rules to allow concealed-weapons permit holders to bring their guns to parks.
"Swinging and sliding and playing in the sand are not places where we should have guns," said County Commissioner Shelley Vana, a former state legislator who objects to the state law.
On Friday, state Sen. Maria Sachs, D-
Delray Beach, said she planned to file proposed legislation that would increase the punishment from a misdemeanor to a felony for bringing a concealed weapon to a state or local government meeting.
"There's no security in most of the areas we meet," Sachs said about legislators' meetings outside of the state Capitol.
Hammer questioned the need for Sachs' proposal, saying people with concealed-weapons permits who are used to having guns with them sometimes forget they aren't allowed to bring them to government meetings and other restricted places.
The NRA objects to adding prohibitions to guns and ammunition. Lawmakers instead should focus on creating longer prison terms for criminals, Hammer said.
"Banning gun [ammunition] magazines doesn't work any more than laws that prohibit criminals from possessing guns," Hammer said. "Criminals don't obey the law."
Aaronson contends that his proposal to ban magazines holding more than 10 bullets would not infringe on the right to "keep and bear arms" in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The interpretation of the Second Amendment is too broad, Aaronson said.
"Why not let them carry bazookas?" Aaronson asked. "When is enough, enough?"
