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Statement

MomsRising Calls Florida Sheriffs Association’s Proposed Alternative to Open Carry Laws ‘Responsible Solution’

January 22, 2016
Gun Control

Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996

STATEMENT OF Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising, on the Proposed “Inadvertent Carry Amendment”
“Legislative proposals in Florida that would allow concealed weapons permit holders to openly carry their firearms are causing concern among families in the ‘Sunshine State’ and families who vacation there. We have heard from people across the country that they will give up their Florida vacations if open carry laws are passed.
 
“The Florida Sheriffs Association’s proposed “Inadvertent Carry Amendment,” introduced this week, is a responsible solution that balances the rights of permit holders with the legitimate safety concerns of families.
 
“This amendment would maintain the prohibition on open carry – which has caused so much concern about public safety – while providing more legal protection for permit holders who inadvertently display a weapon. This regulation directly addresses the concerns voiced by the NRA that under current law, gun owners with permits who accidentally expose their firearms have been targets of ‘abuse’ by law enforcement and that open carry laws are needed to stop such ‘abuse.’
 
“The Florida Sheriffs Association’s proposal is a gun safety law we should all be able to support and live with.”
 

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.