I've seen that Washington State has used this tactic to get a number of laws on the books, and in essence, bypassed the elected representation to do so. Do these initiatives pass by simple majority?
You may read all you need to know...and probably more than you
want to know...about Washington's ballot initiative process by clicking
here. If you want to read about the ballot initiative process in
Florida, then click
here. Prepare to be bored in less than three minutes.
This tactic seems to take away representative government on the state level, and in my simple thinking, should be unconstitutional.
Florida gun owners, and any other special interest group, have the same right to begin the ballot initiative process as the anti-gun people. My opinion is that if this were a pro-gun initiative, you wouldn't be questioning its Constitutionality.
I'm not making light of the situation in Florida, but the linked article above is nothing more than a "what if" article. BAWN is making a big to-do over the fact that they've achieved the bare minimum number of signatures which will allow the proposed initiative to go before the Florida Supreme Court for review. There's not even any guarantee the court will approve it for further action. Plus, even if approved in review, BAWN still needs well over
half-a-million more signatures to get on the ballot.
Quoting from the article for those who haven't even bothered to read it (bold print is mine):
"
The group still faces an uphill climb if the amendment is to make it on the ballot. It needs an additional 600,000-plus signatures to reach the required 766,200 statewide by Feb. 1, 2020. Signatures must come form 14 of 27 congressional districts. They also face a series of new hurdles for proposed constitutional amendments brought by a law (HB 5) signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis last week."
If anyone wants to read what BAWN is actually asking for with this initiative, click
here to read the entire text of the thing.
Florida gun owners should also be aware that there is
another anti-gun initiative that's in the signature-gathering stage and
could appear on the November 3, 2020. This one is sponsored by a group calling themselves the Stop the Killing Committe. Their initiative is titled the
Florida Ban on Military-Style Firearms and Disqualifications for Firearm Possession Initiative 2020. Anyone interested may read the text of that one by clicking
here.
Keep in mind, the election isn't until November 3, 2020.
Seventeen months from now.
So Florida gun owners have seventeen months to mount their counter offensives to these ballot initiatives. You have seventeen months to repeatedly contact your representatives in the legislature and Governor DeSantis, himself. Anti-gun groups in Florida have tried these types of initiatives over the past three years, and none of them have succeeded in getting on the ballot.
After doing a few searches, I'm not seeing anything coming from Florida gun owners except talking and ranting on gun forums and doomsday predictions on gun-related websites like The Truth About Guns.
As I said, you have seventeen months. You have the same rights and access to representatives and processes as the anti-gunners have. My
opinion is it's time to stop just talking about it.
