GUNS/POLITICAL FIGURES: “Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s glide toward a potential U.S. Senate bid became far more complicated after a troubled 19-year-old killed 17 people, including 14-year-old students, last month at a school in Parkland, Fla.
In more than seven years in office, the Republican governor signed bills cutting concealed-carry permit fees and a measure last year that gave new protections to permit holders who claim to shoot another person in self-defense. He was scheduled to be a headliner at the National Rifle Association annual convention in May.
Now, Mr. Scott is advocating for a proposal that includes banning the sale of firearms to anyone under the age of 21, with some exceptions, and a ban on the sale of bump stocks, which can make a semiautomatic rifle operate like a fully automatic one. Both provisions are opposed by the NRA.
He also has come out against arming schoolteachers, a proposal backed by the NRA and President Donald Trump, and has proposed a legal process that could result in taking away guns from people with mental-health issues, irritating some gun-rights activists who worry about depriving people of due-process rights… He wants the legislature to act by next Friday, the end of its 2018 legislative session. That also coincides with the period when political observers expect Mr. Scott to announce whether he will seek the GOP nomination for Senate.
Mr. Scott’s shift on gun-control issues is a high-risk move and a rarity in politics that could have a direct impact on his political future.”
–Siobhan Hughesand Arian Campo-Flores, “Florida Governor Rick Scott’s Shift on Guns Tangles Possible Senate Candidacy,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 2, 2018 12:05pm