As he runs for Florida governor, David Jolly is pursuing two seemingly incongruous objectives on an essential, and emotional, situation: weapons.
Like many Democrats, he advocates rising restrictions on firearms to cut back the carnage of gun violence. Concurrently, Jolly is advancing a method to win by speaking to voters Democrats typically ignore, particularly together with gun homeowners among the many constituencies he plans to interact.
In interviews and city corridor appearances earlier than and since asserting his candidacy for the 2026 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Jolly has made his views on weapons clear.
He favors way more stringent background checks, overlaying all types of altering gun possession, requiring legal responsibility insurance coverage for firearms homeowners, and banning so-called assault weapons.
Jolly mentioned such restrictions are wise to most individuals. “It’s solely after we begin appearing with our partisan reflex, and with deep pocketed particular pursuits that usually management Tallahassee and different state capitals, that we fail to enact gun laws, gun-violence prevention laws,” he mentioned, declaring, “I’m not afraid to take that on.”
He flatly rejects the assertion that usually comes from firearms advocates who oppose regulation. Weapons aren’t the issue, they are saying, individuals who misused weapons are the issue.
“Of us, weapons are the issue. Entry, largely limitless, unrestricted entry to firearms, is the issue,” Jolly mentioned. “When Republicans recommend that weapons aren’t the issue, persons are the issue, they’re mendacity to you.”
Insurance policies
Jolly would impose much more complete background checks than now exist for individuals buying firearms. He would come with each switch, not simply on individuals buying weapons. “It must be common, each transaction, father to son, grandfather to grandchild.”
Jolly additionally needs storage and lock necessities. And he’d wish to require gunowners to hold legal responsibility insurance coverage.
“I’m for an assault weapons ban, I’m for licensing, registration, and insuring,” Jolly mentioned. “I’m really for broader background checks than most Democrats.”
Current background checks “are neither complete nor common. There are carveouts all by way of them. It principally is a test on prison convictions.” That leaves out far an excessive amount of, he mentioned, including they need to embrace “legislation enforcement exercise round the person that was by no means prosecuted and no prices have been introduced.”
Stoneman Douglas legislation
The candidate opposes efforts by some Republicans to roll again elements of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Excessive Faculty Public Security Act.
That legislation, handed within the aftermath of the 2018 bloodbath on the Parkland college, raised the age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21 and created a statewide ready interval for long-gun gross sales. It additionally gave Florida a “purple flag” legislation, permitting legislation enforcement officers to petition a courtroom to grab weapons from somebody who’s seen as harmful.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who can’t run once more due to time period limits, favors reducing the rifle-buying age and revisiting the purple flag legislation. Republican leaders within the Florida Senate have blocked consideration of these proposals.
“Don’t dilute it,” Jolly mentioned. “Republicans who need to dilute it are incorrect. And better gun security measures preserve us protected and permit our children to go to highschool with out getting shot.”
Courting gun homeowners
Jolly says he’ll be speaking to gun homeowners in the course of the course of the marketing campaign, in search of their assist.
It looks like an unlikely constituency for Jolly, since he’s operating for governor of the more and more Republican purple state as a Democrat. No Democrat has been elected governor of Florida in additional than 30 years.
He mentioned outreach to gun homeowners, together with others in rural Florida and other people within the religion group, is a part of constructing a profitable coalition by speaking to voters who’ve too typically been ignored by different Democratic candidates.
What is going to he say to them?
“Gun homeowners are usually not the issue. Our gun legal guidelines are,” he mentioned in an interview. “And we have to additional strengthen our gun violence prevention legal guidelines. And if we do this, we are going to defend the youngsters of gun homeowners simply as we defend the youngsters of non-gun homeowners,” Jolly mentioned.
“Not each gun proprietor goes to just accept that agenda. I acknowledge that. I do. I perceive that,” he mentioned.
One factor he mentioned he’d inform law-abiding gun-owning voters is that they gained’t be harm by his proposals. “None of that retains a firearm out of the hand of a accountable gun proprietor. It’s rhetoric when the gun foyer tries to say in any other case. If we do this, we are going to respect the rights of gun homeowners, however we are going to defend their kids and their grandchildren,” Jolly mentioned.
Views modified
Jolly was a Republican for many of his life, together with the three years he was a member of Congress from the St. Petersburg space. He grew to become a no occasion affiliation/impartial voter throughout President Donald Trump’s first time period, and this yr grew to become a Democrat.
And, he mentioned, his views on gun regulation have modified.
“I got here up embracing a broad Second Modification interpretation,” he mentioned. “I’m now for the licensing, registration, and insurance coverage of firearms. You may observe that journey by way of my time in Congress after Pulse. I used to be the one Republican becoming a member of the Democrats on the (Home) ground, saying, ‘We’ve bought to do one thing’.”
Thursday was the ninth anniversary of the Pulse bloodbath, when 49 individuals have been killed and 53 wounded on Latin night time on the LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando.
Viable technique?
Fred Guttenberg says Jolly’s method — advocating further restrictions and speaking to gun homeowners — is not only doable, it’s important.
Guttenberg grew to become a distinguished nationwide advocate for measures to cut back gun violence after the homicide of his daughter, Jaime, who was one of many 17 individuals killed and 17 injured within the Stoneman Douglas bloodbath.
“I don’t suppose you resolve this drawback with out speaking to gun homeowners. The vast majority of them really imagine of their rights, but in addition the necessity to do extra to cut back gun violence. Overlook the political crap that we’ve seen on this state over the previous few years on this situation. The vast majority of gun homeowners and the vast majority of legislation enforcement agree that we will and may do extra,” he mentioned.
“I don’t suppose you possibly can have significant lasting change with out them being a celebration to it,” he added.
Guttenberg has additionally supported Democratic candidates, and posted assist on social media after Jolly introduced his marketing campaign. However he has pulled again from intensive, public, anti-gun violence and political activism, one thing he determined earlier than the 2024 presidential election, to dedicate extra time to his household.
State Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat from north Broward and southern Palm Seaside County, routinely introduces laws to strengthen background checks and require protected storage of firearms, however the Republicans who management the Legislature by no means permit the measures to get a listening to.
Polsky was allowed to current an modification on the ground of the Senate after the April mass taking pictures at Florida State College, through which two individuals have been killed and 6 injured. The Republican majority dominated it out of order, however Polsky mentioned getting a first-time presentation on the Senate ground was a small little bit of progress. Polsky additionally mentioned Senate Republican leaders have prevented proposed rollbacks to the post-Stoneman Douglas legislation.
Polsky agrees with Jolly that many Republicans agree with further measures, and mentioned it’s good to speak with gun homeowners.
Nonetheless, she mentioned, she doesn’t know if the technique will work.
“I don’t know of any Democrats who’re saying no weapons. There are many Democrats who personal weapons. I believe it’s form of a nasty stereotype to say Democrats don’t like weapons. We don’t just like the un-regulation of weapons. We don’t just like the proliferation of weapons and the gun violence that goes with it,” she mentioned.
Republicans: No probability
Gun restrictions are a extremely contentious and partisan situation. And Republicans see Jolly’s positions on weapons because the incorrect coverage and a dropping proposition politically.
The Republican Occasion is utilizing views on the problem to label him a flip-flopper.
“Not shockingly gun rights is simply one other situation that David Jolly has been on each aspect of. Floridians overwhelmingly assist gun rights,” Florida Republican Occasion Chair Evan Energy mentioned through textual content. “Republicans discover it amusing that David Jolly would observe additional down the failed path of Charlie Crist in being a born anew gun grabber, however truthfully what can we anticipate from Temu Charlie Crist.”
(Crist, like Jolly, switched from the Republican to the Democratic Occasion. And Crist, like Jolly, was a member of Congress who ran in his new occasion for governor, unsuccessfully, in 2014. Temu refers back to the massive on-line market for reasonable Chinese language shopper merchandise.
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, thus far the one declared candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, mentioned in an announcement when Jolly bought within the race that the Democrat needs to “ban weapons.” The Donalds marketing campaign didn’t reply to a request for remark about both Jolly’s coverage prescriptions or his plan to succeed in out to gun homeowners.
Luis Valdes, Florida director of Gun House owners of America, mentioned Jolly is incorrect on the substance and the politics.
“When it comes to Jolly’s marketing campaign, coverage and politics, it’s quite simple: Floridians won’t stand by it. They won’t assist it,” he mentioned. “Jolly’s anti-gun perspective will not be going to fly nicely in Florida.”
“The numbers don’t lie. Tons of of 1000’s have fled states which have the insurance policies that he (Jolly) needs enacted. And so they’ve come to states like Florida particularly as a result of Florida is much less regulatory on the Second Modification,” Valdes mentioned.
Second Modification
The Second Modification to the Structure, on the correct to bear arms, has been broadly interpreted by many gun advocates, many Republicans and conservative Supreme Courtroom justices, and extra narrowly by advocates for gun-violence prevention and lots of Democrats.
To Valdes, it’s clear Jolly’s insurance policies would violate the Second Modification.
“The taxing, regulation and litigation of a civil proper — as a result of that what the Second Modification is — is vehemently incorrect,” he mentioned.
Jolly mentioned the Second Modification proper will not be absolute, with none limitations.
“Elementary rights are usually not absolute. That’s true on speech, meeting, the press. All of our elementary rights have sure restrictions. There’s no motive the Second Modification must be an absolute proper. And I believe accountable gun homeowners really recognize that,” he mentioned.
Anthony Man could be reached at aman@sunsentinel.com and could be discovered @browardpolitics on Bluesky, Threads, Fb and Mastodon.