Polk County Rep. Neil Combee sponsored the 2013 bill after hearing about Marissa Alexander, a Jacksonville woman who was sentenced to 20 years in prison under the 10-20-Life sentencing law for firing a gun into a wall during a fight with her husband. Combee said her sentence was an example of the “negative unintended consequences” of 10-20-Life, which requires mandatory-minimum prison terms for gun-related crimes.
florida guns
Court Strikes Down University of North Florida Ban on Guns in Vehicles Parked on Campus
Alexandria Lainez, a business student at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, is celebrating. On Tuesday, the District Court of Appeal for the First District in Tallahassee upheld her challenge of a UNF rule banning firearms on campus. The full court voted 12-3 to overturn a Duvall Circuit Court decision that had upheld the university’s ban.
Warning-Shot Bill Gaining Support In Spite of Police Opposition and Fears of Vigilantism
Rep. Neil Combee’s Warning Shot Bill under a new guise would amend the “stand your ground” self-defense law and permit people to display guns, threaten to use them or fire warning shots if they were being attacked and feared for their lives. It was inspired by the fate of Marissa Alexander, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot at her abusive husband.
Liberty County Sheriff Nick Finch Acquitted in Ideology-Fraught Gun Case
The criminal charges and suspension came after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation concluded that the sheriff released a local man, Floyd Eugene Parrish, who had been arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and that Finch destroyed or altered records of the arrest.
Florida’s Stand Your Ground Deconstructed Before US Senate Panel on Civil and Human Rights
The unusual Senate hearing focused almost exclusively on Florida, featured the mothers of two 17 year olds killed in its name–Trayvon martin and Jordan Russell Davis–and drew a rebuke from Ranking Republican Ted Cruz of Texas, who questioned whether the scrutiny of “stand your ground” was part of a broader “political agenda.”
Sheriff Nick Finch Trial Under Way: He’s Accused of Destroying Documents to Protect a Gun Owner
A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found that Nick Finch on March 8 released a local man who had been arrested for carrying a concealed firearm, a third degree felony, and altered or destroyed corresponding documents. Gov. Rick Scott removed Finch.
Charges of “Redneck” and “Cracker” Trigger Gunshots and Arrest Over a Truck’s Donuts
Joshua Spencer, a 43-year-old resident of the Mondex (Daytona North), was arrested Sunday evening after allegedly hitting a man and firing a .357-caliber gun at his truck after blaming the man of doing donuts on Spencer’s property.
Senate Proposal Would Bar “Aggressors” From Using Stand Your Ground; Approval Unlikely
Prompted by a national outcry over George Zimmerman’s acquittal this summer in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, a Florida Senate committee gave approval to minor changes in the state’s “stand your ground” law. But whether a Legislature dominated by gun-loving lawmakers will ultimately sign off on a bipartisan compromise remains a long shot.
Yet Another Florida Brutality: Black, 60, Unarmed, and Shot 15 Times By Cops
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan has been defending the bizarre July 27 shooting of Roy Middleton by his deputies, which is currently being investigated by the state and has been the subject of protest by civil rights groups in the area.
After 31 Days, Dream Defenders
End Their Protest at the Florida Capitol
Dream Defender leaders said they’ll carry their campaign against the “stand your ground” self-defense law and what they consider other forms of racial bias to the polls, trying to defeat the elected officials who opposed their demands, including Gov. Rick Scott, who is up for re-election next year.