More than 450 Floridians Disarmed So Far Under Florida’s New Anti-Gun Law

Gun confiscation. It’s what every apologetic anti tells you will never happen, and it’s reportedly happening every day right here in the USA, specifically my home state of Florida.

Back in March, I posted a summary of the oppressive anti-gun legislation hurriedly passed by Florida’s state legislature and quickly signed by turncoat Republican governor Rick Scott. Rushed through as a knee-jerk reaction to murders committed at a school in south Florida, it does nothing to make people safer and does much to restrict our rights.

Under the new law, some law enforcement entities are dedicating themselves to taking guns away from their fellow citizens.

‘In all, we’ve taken in about 200 firearms and around 30,000 rounds of ammunition,’ [Pinellas County Sgt. Jason Schmittendorf] said.

The law, swiftly passed after the Parkland school shooting on Valentine’s Day, temporarily strips gun owners of their gun rights and hardware if a judge deems them to be a threat to themselves or others.

In Pinellas County, a 5-man team is devoted to working only risk protection cases. So far the team has filed 64 risk protection petitions in court, the second highest number of cases in a Florida county. Broward County has the most, 88 risk protection petitions (as of early-July) since the law took effect in mid-March.

Some pay lip service to the Second Amendment, even while dedicating tax-funded resources to disarming Floridians.

“It’s a constitutional right to bear arms and when you are asking the court to deprive somebody of that right we need to make sure we are making good decisions, right decisions and the circumstances warrant it,” explained Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri when asked why he decided to devote an entire unit to carry out the new law.

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So far, every petition filed in [Pinellas] county has been granted by the Judge.

Some folks do oppose this government intrusion.

‘I think we’re doing this because it makes us feel safer,’ said attorney Kendra Parris, critical of the new law. ‘What’s wrong with that?’ asked reporter Katie LaGrone. ‘It violates the constitution,’ Parris said.

She believes after four-and-a-half months, Florida’s version of the ‘red flag’ law as it’s also known is starting to reveal some disturbing grey areas, specifically among individuals who don’t have histories of violence or mental illness.

‘These are individuals who are often exercising their first amendment rights online, who are protecting constitutionally protected speech online,’ she said. ‘Maybe it was odious, maybe people didn’t like it but they were hit with the risk protection order because of it.’

Some will say that if these thefts of legally-owned firearms can only save one life, they must be worth it.

But what about all the lives put at risk because their guns have been taken? Nobody seems to think about that side of things.

At any rate: Firearm confiscation is a real thing, and it’s happening right here, right now.

Thanks, Republicans, and especially Rick Scott, for whom I will never vote again.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.