Proposed Bill Outlaws Social Media Pics of Kids with Guns
Russ Chastain 03.18.19
Just when you thought anti-gunners couldn’t get any more invasive or ridiculous, they come up with something like this. It’s Florida Senate bill SB1310, and it makes it illegal for a minor to post a photo of a gun — or even something that looks like a gun — on social media.
Aren’t these the same people who want 16-year-olds to vote? Lawdy.
Oh, and it would also allow cops to steal any gun that appears in such a photo — as well as “warrantless arrest.”
Even if you forget about the obviously anti-Second-Amendment intent of this stupid bill, even the most rabid anti-gunner should be apalled at the infringement upon the First Amendment being allowed here, clearly setting a precedent that could be used to squash expression of an idea about which he or she may deeply care.
As Reason Magazine summed it up:
(1) A minor who posts or publishes a picture of a firearm, a BB gun, an air or a gas-operated gun, or a device displayed to resemble a firearm to a social media page, post, profile, or account that is openly viewable to the public commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable [by up to a year in jail or a fine of up to $1000].
(2)(a) Any parent or guardian of a minor, or other adult responsible for the welfare of a minor, if the minor possesses a firearm in violation of this section, may, if the court finds it appropriate, be required to participate in classes on parent education which are approved by the Department of Juvenile Justice, upon the first conviction of the minor. Upon any subsequent conviction of the minor, the court may, if the court finds it appropriate, require the parent to attend further parent education classes or render community service hours together with the child.
(3) Any firearm that is possessed or used by a minor in violation of this section shall be promptly seized by a law enforcement officer and disposed of ….
What is wrong with people? Are they so stupid they can’t look back just a few decades to a time when guns were in nearly every home and were freely carried about in public and plainly visible on gun racks in pickup trucks, and nobody ever used them to shoot up schools?
How can people not realize that the tool is not the problem?
Sigh. Worst of all for me, this crap is being proposed in my own home state… once referred to as “the gunshine state” because of its lack of idiotic gun regulation, Florida began a downward spiral one year ago, when the Republican-led legislature and Republican governor Rick Scott enacted a sweeping anti-gun bill that’s already causing strife for legal gun owners.
Humans can be such a disappointment.
