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Florida lawmakers file proposals to roll back gun control amid congressional bids

Political experts say the filings could be seen as ‘political grandstanding’

FLORIDA – As a few Florida lawmakers look to move up in the political field, they are hoping that certain changes to gun laws may sway voters into giving their support.

One is State Rep. Joel Rudman, who currently represents Florida’s 3rd district, and the other is State Sen. Randy Fine, who represents Florida’s 19th district.

RELATED: Florida state senators have started filing bills for 2025. Here are the new laws that could be coming

On Dec. 9, Rudman filed HB 31. The legislation calls for a repeal of Florida Statue 790.02, relating to an arrest without warrant and upon probable cause, which deals with Florida’s red flags laws. And it wants to allow open carry.

The same week Sen. Fine filed SB 94, which would repeal the law preventing people under the age of 21 from buying rifles.

However, Rudman and Fine have each submitted their resignations.

Rudman posted about it on social media, saying his last day as a state representative will be Jan. 1. He’s now running to fill the vacant congressional seat in District 1 left behind by President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet appointments.

Fine’s last day is March 31. He announced he’s running for Florida’s 6th Congressional District.

The first day of the Florida 2025 Legislative Session doesn’t start until March 4. Rudman will be gone before the new session starts, and Fine will have officially resigned just days after the session begins. So why would they file bills?

Dr. Michael Binder, a political science professor at the University of North Florida, and Dr. Daniel Cronrath, a political science professor at FSCJ, explained that what the lawmakers are doing could be boiled down to “political grandstanding.”

“This in a lot of ways is just political grandstanding if you will,” Dr. Michael Binder said. “Message sending not only to potential voters but also maybe more importantly to potential interest groups that might be looking to donate. Maybe the NRA.”

He also noted they are trying to seem as conservative as possible to appeal to their base.

Dr. Cronrath explained how the bills are likely to get traction if both men resign before the legislative session is over.

“Both of these bills are going to be very, very hard to advance despite the supermajorities that the Republicans have in Tallahassee,” Dr. Cronrath responded. “There are prominent members of the Florida Republican Senate who do not like either piece of legislation. They could get bogged down in a variety of different committees along the way.”

Cronrath did add that because of the Republican supermajority, there is always a chance the bills could be passed.

News4JAX did reach out to each man for a response to this story. We will provide an update when a response is given.


About the Author
Khalil Maycock headshot

Khalil Maycock joined the News4JAX team in November 2022 after reporting in Des Moines, IA.