NRA Defeated in FL Again: Everytown, Florida Moms Applaud Defeat of Stand Your Ground, Guns on Campus and Open Carry Bills

Tallahassee, FL – The Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the following statement celebrating the defeat of several gun lobby-priority bills that would have jeopardized Florida public safety. Florida has traditionally been a testing ground for new state-based legislation aimed at further weakening gun laws.

“Once again, Florida Moms, gun violence survivors and thousands of Floridians have stood up against the NRA and won,” said Chryl Anderson, volunteer Chapter Leader with the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “We’re thankful that legislators put public safety ahead of the NRA’s interests and heard our call for the second straight year in a state that has historically been the NRA’s testing ground for dangerous legislation. This is what a grassroots counterweight to the gun lobby looks like.”

Over the last several months, Everytown and the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action launched a successful campaign to defeat these dangerous bills. The group mounted a significant grassroots effort to make the voices of thousands of Floridians heard by driving more than 81,000 messages and more than 1,000 calls into Florida lawmakers’ offices urging them to reject these bills.

Also, at the Capitol in October, Lucy McBath—the mother of slain teenager Jordan Davis and Faith and Outreach Leader for Everytown—testified against the Stand Your Ground expansion bill to make it clear how dangerous it would be for Florida. Despite last minute efforts by the gun lobby to revive the Stand Your Ground bill through procedural gimmicks at the end of session, Everytown and Moms Demand Action, as part of a broad coalition, were ultimately successful in shutting down the gun lobby in Florida this year.

Last year, Everytown and the Florida chapter of Moms Demand Action ran a similarly aggressive campaign to defeat six NRA bills that would have allowed guns onto college campuses and allowed guns in K-12 schools. That campaign included a television ad, polling, a lobby day at the Capitol, and many phone calls and emails into legislators’ offices.