With the house passage of CS/SB 7026, litigation that puts millions of Floridians in legal jeopardy is dangerously close to becoming law. We petition Florida Governor Rick Scott to protect his citizens by using the line-item veto to strike lines 736 to 747 in the bill, which read:

"790.222 Bump-fire stocks prohibited.—A person may not import into this state or transfer, distribute, sell, keep for sale, offer for sale, possess, or give to another person a bump fire stock. A person who violates this section commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. As used in this section, the term “bump fire stock” means a conversion kit, a tool, an accessory, or a device used to alter the rate of fire of a firearm to mimic automatic weapon fire or which is used to increase the rate of fire to a faster rate than is possible for a person to fire such semiautomatic firearm unassisted by a kit, a tool, an accessory, or a device."

Beyond the politically charged title of this section, this verbiage places potentially millions of law-abiding citizens into limbo as it can be argued that modifications that do as little as lighten a firearm may increase its rate of fire. With such a loose definition, very severe penalties, no grace period, compensation, or options for disposition of offending devices, this section would be extremely harmful to the residents of the state of Florida.

Governor Scott, we call upon you to do what is right for your residents. If a bump-fire stock ban is something desired by the State of Florida, strike this poorly written section and recommend the passage of a separate ban with these concerns addressed.