Gun policy emerges as an early flashpoint in Florida governor’s race

Republican gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds says he wants to repeal parts of Florida's 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public High School Safety Act, including the age restriction on long-gun purchases and possibly the state's red-flag law, which lets law enforcement petition courts to remove firearms from people deemed dangerous. Democratic rival David Jolly is instead campaigning to expand background checks, explore licensing, and preserve red-flag laws.

The Florida House has passed repeal of the 21-and-over long-gun provision four years running, but it has died each time in the Senate under two successive Senate presidents; the incoming Senate president did not respond to a request for comment. No lawmaker had even filed a bill to repeal the red-flag law until this past session, and it never got a hearing.

A court ruling striking down Florida's open-carry ban as unconstitutional has effectively made the state open-carry by default, which Donalds celebrates, even though the Legislature never voted to codify it. Law enforcement groups, including the sheriff who chaired the state's Parkland safety commission, have historically opposed these rollbacks, though that same sheriff is now endorsing Donalds and declined to comment on his repeal plans.

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