The Sarasota state representative wants to require background checks on all firearm purchases

Sarasota state Rep. Margaret Good is making another push to mandate background checks on all Florida gun purchases.

Good filed HB 451 in advance of the 2020 legislative session, which begins in January. The bill would expand background checks on firearm transactions to include purchases from a private seller.

Good unveiled the legislation Thursday during a news conference at the North Sarasota Library that was held in conjunction with the monthly meeting of the Sarasota chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

The Democratic lawmaker was introduced by Madison Markham, a Sarasota High School graduate who now attends New College of Florida.

"It’s time that our legislators listen to what a majority of Floridians want, and that is background checks on all gun purchases," Markham said.

Good said that "requiring background checks with every gun purchase has been proven effective."

"It’s time for the Legislature to protect Floridians and stop allowing criminals to purchase guns," she added.

Good is running for Congress against U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, who also has supported universal background checks. She filed the background check bill during the 2019 legislative session, but it did not receive a hearing.

Good also tried to amend the background check language onto a school safety bill in 2018, but was unsuccessful.

The bill can’t advance in the GOP-controlled Legislature without Republican support, something Good said she plans to work on.

"I have had several of my Republican colleagues comment privately to me it is something they support," she said.