Gun fight opens emotional and political wounds in Legislature

TALLAHASSEE -- Florida legislators listened to the Parkland families and moved a bill to respond to the Feb. 14 shooting with unprecedented speed, but the process was not without pain or political risk for many legislators.

First there were the inconveniences: The Senate met in a rare Saturday session last weekend and devoted eight hours to debating dozens of amendments on SB 7026, a package of proposals aimed at strengthening school security and addressing mental health issues that surfaced because of the shooting.

Lawmakers conceded they had spent so much time and political energy responding to the Parkland shooting that they missed the deadline to complete the budget by the time session ends on Friday and must return next week to vote it out.

Bills died. An effort to reach a compromise on a multibillion-dollar gaming agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida got sidetracked. Millions of dollars of local projects that had been included in the House and Senate budgets were slashed as legislators looked for the $400 million to pay for the school safety and mental health programs for the Parkland bill. Both sides lost pet projects.

But perhaps most painful for legislators was the political friction the emotional vote caused, and the internal rifts that surfaced within the Republican and Democratic caucuses as the most conservative Republicans joined with the most liberal Democrats to oppose the bill. The bill will raise the age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 and impose a minimum three-day waiting period on gun purchases -- measures conservatives said go too far, and liberals say don't go far enough.

"There is nothing convenient about this," said Rep. Tom Leek, a conservative Republican from Ormond Beach, who spoke in support of the bill Wednesday. He said he received thousands of emails from both sides, including one in which the writer researched that Leek had two daughters "and said he hoped I suffered the same fate as those parents of Parkland."

In the Senate, Republican leaders worked hard to collect enough votes to narrowly pass the measure 20-18, including 17 Republicans.

Within minutes of their vote, several Republicans received a gift hand delivered to their offices from a gun rights activist and member of the Libertarian Party: a jar of tar and feathers. "The tar and feather enemy of freedom award," read the label.

"If I have a primary, I'll have a primary," said Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, who voted for the bill. She said she has received messages from the National Rifle Association, as well as emails from constituents on both sides. "But it was the right thing to do."

The prospect of a narrow vote increased the pressure on Democrats in the House, where Broward Democrats joined with Republican leaders and worked for support of the bill.

But several black Democrats argued that the optional proposal to put armed personnel in Florida schools would disproportionately threaten blacks students.

They pointed to the fact that for six years Democrats have filed legislation aimed at curbing gun violence, restricting access to powerful rifles like the one used by Nikolas Cruz to kill 17 students and teachers, and closing loopholes in the state's background check laws. Not one of their bills has ever gotten a hearing.

"Seventeen proposals that never saw the light of day," said House Democratic Leader Janet Cruz of Tampa on Wednesday. "We honor the 17 lives that were lost."

Cruz and others urged the Democrats to vote as a block to oppose the bill and force House leaders to remove the provision that would arm school personnel. But a bitterly divided House Democratic caucus voted 21-9 Wednesday to vote against the bill, even though several promised to break the caucus.

Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Coral Springs Democrat who represents Parkland and was at the Monday night meeting agreed with the concerns of many black lawmakers.

"Some of it is not untrue," he said of their concerns that the issues of gun violence have not been sufficiently addressed by members of either party. He opposes the proposal to allow schools to train and arm school personnel but argues that voting against the bill was a vote with the NRA -- and against the families of Parkland.

"These parents are smart," Moskowitz said. "They know this is political."

Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, said that Democrats see political opportunity in the gun control fight, but so do Republicans. Because the provision to arm school officials is a priority of House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who is likely to use it to campaign in a Republican primary for governor, it was unlikely House Republicans will remove the plan to arm school officials, Jenne said.

"Polling for primaries is driving this right now," he said, noting that both Corcoran and Gov. Rick Scott have the same pollster and the governor supports it while Corcoran opposes it. "They're doing completely different things because one is worried about the general and one is worried about a primary."

Contact Mary Ellen Klas at meklas@miamiherald.com. Follow @MaryEllenKlas