Last year political newcomer Florida House District 3 Representative Joel Rudman saw two of seven bills he sponsored signed into law. Ahead of the 2024 legislative session, he’s already filed three new bills, including one which could face strong opposition from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and others.
During his 2022 campaign, Rudman promised his first bill would be aimed to revisit legislation established in the wake of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. Rudman followed through yesterday with the filing of HB 17 , which could go into effect July 1, 2024 – if the proposed legislation passes the Florida Legislature and isn’t vetoed by Governor Ron DeSantis.
HB 17 aims to amend the 2018 Marjory Stonemen Douglas Act to allow firearm purchases after a required three-day wait period – regardless of whether or not the purchaser’s background check has been cleared by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Chris Smith, owner of Gulf Coast Gun & Outdoors, is praising Rudman’s sponsorship of the bill, which was announced last evening.
“I want to thank Dr Joel Rudman for filing a bill that will partially restore Floridians 2nd Amendment rights. I have been fighting for 5 years to get a local legislator to file this bill. They all made promises but never came through. It’s nice to finally have a Representative in office that actually believes in the 2nd Amendment not just makes it a slogan on their flyer.”
The bill is expected to receive support from other Second Amendment activists but be strongly opposed not only by FDLE but also the families of victims of the 2017 tragedy and other mass shootings.
Smith says that prior to the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act, background checks had a faster turnaround time.
“FDLE said that 98% of their background checks come back within three minutes. That is an absolute lie,” Smith said, pointing out that some of his customers have experienced delays of months or even years.
Other 2024 bills sponsored to date by Rudman include:
- HB 11 which aims to help physicians by providing that restrictive covenants which prohibit a physician from practicing medicine within a specified area for a certain period of time are void and unenforceable;
- HB 15 which aims to help entertainers by prohibiting an entertainment venue which receives state funding from canceling or terminating an executed contract based on an entertainer’s use of social media or political affiliation.
The 2024 legislative session will convene January 9, 2024.
