Florida bill would require anger management courses for bullet buyers

[petegz28]

A Florida legislator wants anyone trying to buy ammunition to complete an anger management program first, in what critics say is the latest example of local lawmakers reaching for constitutionally-dubious solutions to the problem of gun violence.

The bill filed Saturday by state Sen. Audrey Gibson, D-Jacksonville, would require a three-day waiting period for the sale of any firearm and the sale of ammunition to anyone who has not completed anger management courses. The proposal would require ammo buyers to take the anger management courses every 10 years.

“This is not about guns," Gibson said. "This is about ammunition and not only for the safety of the general community, but also for the safety of law enforcement.”

Gibson said she’s concerned with citizens stockpiling ammunition, potentially creating dangerous situations should those individuals ever come in contact with law enforcement agencies or criminals.

“It’s about getting people to think, really, about how much ammunition they need,” Gibson said. “It’s a step, I think, in a safer direction. It’s about getting people to think before they buy.”


Gibson insisted the bill is not “accusatory” toward gun and ammunition owners, but rather an effort to improve the safety of her community. She recalled the death of a Jacksonville man, Jordan Davis, 17, who was fatally shot during a confrontation with another man in November. Michael David Dunn, 46, of Satellite Beach, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the case.

Gibson first announced her intentions to introduce such legislation last month during a rally for Davis, saying “people are just not as patient as they used to be,” according to the Florida Times-Union.

“We see the rage on the road all the time,” she continued Wednesday. “People are just more impatient, I don’t know what it is.”

Gibson’s bill does not offer a threshold for the amount of ammunition needed to necessitate the need for anger management courses.

“It is unlawful to: A) Sell ammunition to another person who does not present certification that he or she has successfully completed an anger-management program consisting of at least 2 hours of online or face-to-face instruction in anger-management techniques,” the bill reads. “The certification must be renewed every 10 years. B) Purchase or otherwise obtain ammunition by fraud, false pretense, or false representation.”

Those in violation of the bill, if passed, would face a second-degree misdemeanor charge. Anyone found in violation a second time within a year of a prior conviction would face a first-degree misdemeanor charge.

Critics of the bill, however, derided the legislation as “absolutely ridiculous” and suggested that Gibson take a course on the U.S. Constitution.

“When I first saw it, I thought it had to be a joke,” said Sean Caranna, executive director of Florida Carry, a nonprofit group championing the right to bear arms. “They’re trying to say that anyone who owns a gun or shoots a gun or has ammunition for it needs counseling and obviously has some anger problems.”

Caranna said he was disappointed that Gibson wasted her time on the bill instead of focusing on other issues like jobs or the state’s rate of foreclosures, which is the highest in the nation.

“We’ve got a lot of issues that should be the focus of these bill slots with limited filing, but instead we put in something as ridiculous as this,” he said. “I don’t see a planet where this passes. This is an attempt to grab attention – it has to be. And that’s really disappointing.”

Jon Gutmacher, an Orlando attorney and author of “Florida Firearms: Law, Use & Ownership,” told FoxNews.com that the bill would almost certainly be found to be unconstitutional based on prior restraint.

“It has no reasonable relationship to anything,” he said. “There has to be a reasonable basis to believe that a person had a substantial anger problem that could cause public harm.”

Gutmacher said he found the bill to be an “insult” to any gun owner in the Sunshine State.

“It’s absurd on its face,” he continued. “And anyone who proposes that legislation is in my mind unfit for the legislature because it shows a basic problem with their thinking process, aside from their lack of understanding of what the Constitution is all about. That’s the kind of bill that doesn’t even get past committee.”


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013...#ixzz2MtIuQekq

[listopencil]

How about making it a requirement of citizenship to take an anger management course every ten years?

[listopencil]

This looks like the bill in question:

SB 1678: Firearms

GENERAL BILL by Gibson
Firearms; Requiring a 3-day waiting period for the sale of any firearm; prohibiting the sale of ammunition to a person who has not completed an anger-management program; requiring certification of completion of an anger-management program to be renewed every 10 years; providing criminal penalties, etc.

Senate Committee References: Criminal Justice (CJ) , Health Policy (HP) , Judiciary (JU) , Rules (RC)
Last Action: 03/07/2013 Referred to Criminal Justice; Health Policy; Judiciary; Rules
Effective Date: July 1, 2013

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1678

[listopencil]

Here's another bill she introduced:

Regulation of Firearms; Providing that it is unlawful for a person to own or have in his or her care, custody, possession, or control any firearm or ammunition, or to carry a concealed weapon or firearm, for a period of 90 days if the person is the subject of a preventative assessment received by the Department of Law Enforcement; providing restrictions to be imposed by the department upon receipt of a preventative assessment; providing for removal of restrictions; providing a penalty, etc.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/1000

[BucEyedPea]

This is another infringement. I mean do we require this for freedom of speech?

[frazod]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

This is another infringement. I mean do we require this for freedom of speech?

If intelligence standards were instituted, half of congress and the vice president would be barred.

[scott free]

Good grief, what a tremendous waste of money that would be.

This whole subject has made people retarded.

[Radar Chief]

Originally Posted by frazod

If intelligence standards were instituted, half of congress and the vice president would be barred.

You'd better pray the nutjobs in Illinois don't hear about this or you're screwed for buying ammo in that state.

[scott free]

Originally Posted by Radar Chief

You'd better pray the nutjobs in Illinois don't hear about this or you're screwed for buying ammo in that state.

You wouldnt believe how stupid its gotten here, my work buddy doesnt even own a 22 anything but he's buying the crap out of it... even the cheapest, rinky-dink .22 stuff is becoming expensive and scarce... "5.56 getting hard to find? **** it, i'm buyin up some .22 crap".

Its like a ****ing cold war arms race in this state, its truly a phenomenon.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by scott free

Good grief, what a tremendous waste of money that would be.

This whole subject has made people retarded.

I wouldn't say it's made them retarded, they were already there.