In one sense, you can’t fault Gov. Ron DeSantis’ globe-trotting to Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Israel.
He’s much safer there than in the state he left behind.
The new gun law DeSantis touted for political points — then disappeared behind closed doors to sign amid a rash of politically inconvenient mass shootings — takes effect July 1.
Floridians will then be free to carry hidden guns they don’t know how to shoot.
Background screenings for, say, domestic violence restraining orders won’t be required before being allowed to carry a concealed weapon. Neither will training to ensure gun owners concealing those firearms know how to use them.
More than seven in 10 Floridians didn’t want this bill, a poll by the University of North Florida showed.
Just as a special few ignored the wishes of the many, a special few will enjoy safety from its consequences: Guns aren’t allowed on the state Senate floor. Or the House. Or where committees debate laws. Or almost anywhere state elected officials gather.
They get to work in a bulletproof bubble.
The rest of us have to live outside it.
Gun deaths all over
The rest of us are not safe; not standing outside a restaurant (Miami Gardens; January, 10 wounded), or fishing with a buddy (Ruskin; March, one killed) or Easter egg hunting (Orlando; April, three killed, five wounded) or celebrating MLK Day (Fort Pierce; March, one killed, seven wounded.)
Sen. Jason Pizzo, D-Hollywood, was not psychic; he merely set aside politically expedient fiction for fact. Warning fellow state senators of the price others will pay for the new anti-safety gun law, the former Miami-Dade prosecutor said gun violence so permeates the state that he could guarantee a Florida teenager would be shot that night.
It was March 30.
Just before midnight, Layla Silvernail, 16, was found on the side of the road with gunshot wounds. She was one of three Florida teens to be fatally shot within 48 hours.
The day the anti-safety gun bill was filed in the House, 10 people were shot near a school bus stop in Lakeland.
Twenty-four hours after a House committee greenlighted the bill (HB 543), an Orlando gunman murdered a child and a TV journalist. The journalist was covering a shooting.
The child, T’Yonna Major, 9, had attended Pine Hills Elementary school with Cameron Bouie, 7.
One month, two weeks and four days after T’Yonna was fatally wounded, Cameron was killed on Easter Sunday.
The same day, Orlando men exchanged gunfire at an Easter egg hunt. Three died.
Between April 3, when DeSantis signed the gun bill, and April 14, when a political ad on his behalf accused Donald Trump of being soft on guns, two road-raging Florida fathers opened fire at each other. Bullets collapsed the lung of one 14-year-old daughter and hit another, 5, in the leg.
The National Rifle Association held its annual convention April 14 in Indianapolis.
DeSantis wasn’t there, but he would have been wrapped up in safety. The Secret Service created a very big anti-bullet bubble by banning guns in the speakers’ area, given the presence of Trump and Mike Pence.
DeSantis’ staff would have understood, having secretly sought to bar guns from the governor’s own election night celebration.
The Secret Service didn’t mind anyone knowing, because the Secret Service is in the business of protecting people. Sensible rules about firearms are one way to protect people.
The people DeSantis flew off to see halfway around the world know that.
Fewer guns, fewer gun deaths
South Korea recorded 10 firearm deaths in 2019. Florida recorded more than 2,000.
In Japan, one person was shot and killed in all of 2021. One. In Florida, two people were killed on the first day of 2023.
Last week, when DeSantis’ plane would likely have been lifting off the tarmac for Asia, teenage Instacart driver Waldes Thomas Jr. and his girlfriend got lost around 10 p.m. in Broward and turned into the wrong driveway of a man with a gun.
The Southwest Ranches man fired, striking Thomas’ car several times. The shooter says he was not trying to kill anyone.
Do not confuse that with a happy ending.
Mass shootings are defined as incidents where four or more are shot. Florida ushered in 2023 with five mass shootings in one month.
DeSantis timed his overseas travels so that he was in Israel for its 75th anniversary.
Gun permits there require background checks, training and health evaluations. Amid talk of easing requirements, the former head of the Internal Security Ministry is warning: Don’t go too far.
“We don’t want to be like America,” he said.
Or worse — like Florida.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney, and Anderson. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com.
