In 2011, the ultra-conservative Florida Legislature — emboldened by the recent tea party wave — passed an NRA-backed law barring cities and counties from passing local gun laws. That means that a city like St. Petersburg or Tampa or Miami or Jacksonville can't, say, pass a law banning guns from public parks.
Democrats, of course, are not fans of looser gun laws like Republicans are, laws they say contribute to gun violence (and that lax gun ownership policy leads to more stolen guns, which leads to more gun violence, as this Tampa Bay Times report out this week seems to suggest).
That's why this week — several days out from Election Day in St. Pete, where Republican Rick Baker and Democrat Rick Kriseman are neck and neck — they're criticizing Rick Baker for his position on that law, which he said he supports.
Last month, during a Disston Heights Neighborhood Association forum, moderator Mitch Perry asked Baker about his position on the law and whether he would fight it:
“In 2011, the Florida legislature passed a law declaring that, with few exceptions, they would have sole responsibility for regulation of firearms and ammunition throughout the entire state. Are you okay with that law, and if not, would there be any measure that you would propose or support that would stop gun violence in St. Petersburg?”
And here was Baker's response, after a brief rebuttal to a previous Kriseman claim:
“I do support the legislature having the ability to regulated those, because I don't think if Lealman and Largo and St. Pete and Pinellas Park and all of these jurisdictions have different gun laws. I think it should be done on a legislative basis,” he said.
Kriseman, of course, disagreed. Here's what he said (after, of course, a rebuttal to Baker's rebuttal):
“We have a program in place for firearms. It's called Not My Son. Since we implemented that program, we have seen a reduction in gun violence. I signed on immediately with Mothers Against Illegal Guns. I think it is wrong for the legislature to treat St. Petersburg like it does Eustis, Florida. We're not the same community as Eustis, Florida. And the rules that apply to Eustis don't necessarily and shouldn't necessarily apply to St. Petersburg.”
Baker's response proved to be fodder for the Florida Democratic Party, which has been heavily assisting Kriseman.
"When Marion Hammer says jump, Rick Baker says, 'how high?'. [sic] Baker is just another NRA lapdog willing to sacrifice public safety and common sense gun laws for campaign cash. Baker's campaign is being funded by self-described NRA sellouts. Don't count on Rick Baker to stand up to preemption or the NRA in Tallahassee," FDP spokesman Amir Avin said in a written statement.
The Dems have sought to tie Baker to Republicans at the state and national level, including House Speaker Richard Corocoran and Governor Rick Scott, both of whom have backed laws stripping cities and counties of their ability to determine their own policies on matters like the environment, worker protections and, yes, gun control.
In the past, however, Baker has said he supports home rule in general, and on Thursday reiterated that he believes "government closest to the people is best suited to respond to their needs."
Kriseman, meanwhile, successfully challenged the status quo in 2015 when a man constructed and attempted to use a gun range in his father's yard. Subsequently, a bipartisan group of lawmakers passed a law banning backyard gun ranges in densely populated areas.
This article appears in Nov 2-9, 2017.