Florida Republican Who Killed Pro-Gun Bills Loses Seat
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 12 months ago
A powerful south Florida state senator who repeatedly sidelined popular gun rights legislation lost his seat Tuesday, opening the door for campus carry and open carry in the Sunshine State.
Florida State Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami, chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and in 2015 refused to hold hearings on a bill to allow legal concealed carry on public colleges and universities. Diaz de la Portilla was also a fly in the ointment when it came to derailing an emergency concealed carry bill the year before and in 2016 was key in killing bills on campus carry and open carry, refusing to even meet with advocates.
However, even though he was supported by a $85,000 ad campaign paid for by Everytown, state Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez, a Democrat, beat Diaz de la Portilla in this week’s election.
While the loss of his seat was balanced out in the Senate by Democratic Sen. Dwight Bullard’s defeat by Republican Rep. Frank Artiles, sustaining the GOP with a 25-15 majority in the chamber, gun rights advocates argue the vanquished lawmaker simply reaped what he sowed.
“Senator Diaz de la Portilla broke is word,” Marion Hammer, executive director of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida and a former National Rifle Association president, told Guns.com Wednesday. “He betrayed gun owners and bragged about it. People know not to trust a man who not only breaks his word but then brags about being deceitful. He engineered his own defeat.”
Well good. We had discussed this particular politician and his cocky arrogance before. I’m glad he’s down for the count. Remember when we issued the beat-down to S.C. State Senator Larry Martin? Yep, he went down too. His replacement, whomever that is, would do well to remember Larry’s fate. We’ll do the same thing to him … and the next guy … and the next guy … until we get what we want.
Do you understand?
On November 11, 2016 at 11:53 am, henrybowmanaz said:
Too bad it didn’t work with McCain.
On November 11, 2016 at 12:14 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I’m sorry. What a putz that guy is.
On November 11, 2016 at 3:25 pm, Ned Weatherby said:
Right, Henry. I live in AZ. Funny, GOA gave McCain a D-, while NRA gave the petrified asshat a B. I have voted against him forever.
On November 14, 2016 at 4:24 pm, Frank_in_Spokane said:
Hasta la vista, Miguel …