Florida lawmaker wants to hold businesses accountable for gun-free zones

If business owners wish to ban lawful firearm carry in their establishments, then one Florida Republican wants them held liable for customer safety.

Florida Sen. Greg Steube, representing the Sarasota area, introduced legislation this week to open businesses with no gun policies up to civil lawsuits if customers are injured by criminals.

The bill, SB 610, would require plaintiffs to prove they were legally able to carry a weapon at the time they were victimized but were rendered defenseless by an establishment’s anti-firearm policy.

“It’s the premise in Florida that if a private business wants to prohibit guns in their location that’s open to the public, that’s fine they can do that,” Steube said. “But if you’re going to do that, in my opinion, I should have some assumption that I’m going to be protected as a conceal-carry permit-holder because you’re taking away my ability to defend myself.”

The lawmaker added that he hopes his bill will encourage businesses to drop gun-free policies to limit their liability by allowing patrons to defend themselves. Otherwise, businesses would be forced to mitigate liability by hiring armed guards or frisking all incoming customers at the door to ensure complete compliance with weapons free policies.

Similar proposals have popped up in Missouri, Tennessee and Texas over the past several months along with a series of other pro-2^nd Amendment proposals in U.S. states.

Wyoming House lawmakers this week voted overwhelmingly in support of legislation eliminating gun-free zones at schools. Steube has introduced legislation in Florida seeking the same outcome and Kentucky lawmakers are taking similar steps.

Meanwhile, there’s good 2^nd Amendment news coming from the federal front as well.

White House pressman Sean Spicer on Wednesday said the Trump administration is still looking at possible ways to make good on the president’s campaign promise to eliminate gun-free zones via executive order.

Trump said last year: “You know what a gun-free zone is to a sicko? That’s bait. ‘Gun-free zone?’ And then they walk in with whatever the hell they’re carrying. I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools — you have to — and on military bases. It gets signed, okay? My first day.”

“There’s no more gun-free zones.”

Spicer was asked about why the president hasn’t gotten around to fulfilling that promise during a press briefing at the White House.

“I think you’ve seen that the president has been very active in terms of getting executive orders out, and following up on the campaign pledges that he made to the American people, last night being another example of that,” Spicer said. “We’re going to continue to move forward with this process and I think we’ll have further updates on where we are with respect to the EO process.”

The post Florida lawmaker wants to hold businesses accountable for gun-free zones appeared first on Personal Liberty®.