As Twitchy reported on Feb. 20, the Florida House, with some Parkland students in the gallery watching, voted 36-71 not to take up a bill that would ban assault rifles and large capacity magazines.
What got lost in a lot of reporting is that the bill was still in committee and was not scheduled for a hearing that day or even during that legislative session; a Democratic representative asked for a procedural move that would allow the bill to be considered anyway — that’s what was voted down.
You might remember that CNN, in a not-so-rare-anymore bit of gun control advocacy, actually posted to Twitter a scrolling list of all 71 “no” votes and their NRA ratings. (Also note the deceptive heading.)
Here are the 71 Florida lawmakers — all of them Republicans — who refused to vote for an assault weapons ban, along with their NRA rating https://t.co/5RFJWpMqqf pic.twitter.com/Gf47cRDLf8
— CNN (@CNN) February 21, 2018
So now what? As Twitchy reported, the Florida Senate in a rare Saturday session narrowly rejected (21-17) a two-year moratorium on sales of AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles, during which the effects of the ban would be “studied.”
That led the Tampa Bay Times to publish an editorial Monday entitled, “Florida Senate values guns over kids.”
The legislation has positive provisions such as raising the age to buy all guns to 21, more spending for mental health and added school security. Yet Douglas High survivors and families of the 17 victims — and most voters — do not want to arm teachers. They want to ban the sale of semiautomatic assault rifles and large magazines. The Senate placed guns above kids Saturday, rejecting a ban by a 20-17 vote (see roll call, below). The bill goes today to the House, which has refused to even debate a ban. Tell legislators they aren’t listening to Floridians.
Can we please stop saying that all Douglas High School survivors want to ban AR-15s? Sure, the same five that are paraded on cable news every single day do, but guess what — others don’t.
The @FLSenate voted down an assault rifle ban over the weekend. Here's how every senator voted and their contact information, from @TBTimes_Opinion https://t.co/S9AmrEv13M pic.twitter.com/XCICbuMYG4
— Tampa Bay Times (@TB_Times) March 5, 2018
Regardless, the Tampa Bay Times published the votes (“FOR GUNS” vs. “FOR KIDS” — no really, that’s how they worded it) and gave contact information for every senator. So, was your senator for guns, or for kids? Because obviously he or she couldn’t be for both now, and besides, what’s wrong with banning AR-15s for two years to “study” whether the ban should be permanent?
While we’re at it, remember the time The New York Times tweeted the names and contact information of key senators when it was lobbying to kill the GOP’s tax reform legislation (i.e., Armageddon)?
Any temporary tax cuts for the middle class would be more than offset by the higher cost of health insurance — a good reason to vote against the tax bill. https://t.co/oSSXZ7H1H3 Tell your senators today: https://t.co/0AtZRQGvM5 #thetaxbillhurts pic.twitter.com/jqjW6cFbuJ
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017
Remember when not every media outlet was a liberal advocacy organization? We’re not sure we do anymore.
Related:
'This ISN'T journalism': CNN gets BUSTED for this SHAMELESS gun control 'activist hackery' https://t.co/8VqFIwt8sS
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 21, 2018
Join the conversation as a VIP Member