How the NRA Made Florida the “Gunshine State”
Decades Before the Orlando Shooting, Lobbyists in the State Helped Redefine Americans’ Constitutional Right to Bear Arms
Ever since the brutal mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando in the early morning hours on June 12, Florida has become the focus of nationwide concerns about easy access to guns, and the mayhem such access can produce.
That focus on the Sunshine State is even more appropriate than the American public understands. The state of Florida has long played a leading role in the establishment and expansion of the right to bear arms.
As constitutional rights go, the right to bear arms is of relatively recent vintage. …
