Assault weapon ban group spurred by Parkland becomes political advocacy organization
A Florida gun control group chaired by the aunt of a Parkland school shooting victim announced Wednesday that it will become a political advocacy organization to support state legislative candidates who sponsor assault weapon bans legislation.
Before Wednesday’s announcement, the bipartisan group Ban Assault Weapons NOW relied on citizen petition initiatives to put pressure on political leaders to ban assault weapons in the state. Now the group will fund campaign contributions and support targeted communication for candidates who pledge to push legislation that bans assault weapons, according to the announcement.
By working directly with candidates running competitive campaigns in Florida’s Legislature, the group believes it will have the biggest impact in advancing its proposed legislation, according to chairwoman Gail Schwartz, the aunt of Alex Schachter, one of 17 people killed in the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Feb. 14, 2018.
“If we can replace some of the cowardly politicians that refuse to make safety a priority by ridding our communities of these killing machines, and shine a light on some of the brave House and Senate candidates by helping to support their campaigns…then we’ve achieved our goal,” Schwartz said.
The group’s transition to a political advocacy organization comes a little over a month after Florida’s Supreme Court rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have asked voters to ban assault weapons in the state, with a majority of justices saying the proposal’s wording was misleading.
Schwartz criticized the Republican-controlled Legislature after the amendment was blocked, saying the laws legislators have passed in the last two years have made it harder to amend Florida’s Constitution through grassroots organizing. “There’s too many roadblocks and too many hurdles now,” Schwartz said. “Just in the last two years, the Florida Legislature has enacted two grotesque bills that just make the petition initiative process for us as a grassroots organization almost impossible to achieve.”
The Legislature passed a bill in 2019 that requires petition signature gatherers to be paid by wage or hour, rather than by signatures gathered. The bill also requires petition gatherers to turn in petitions within 30 days of being signed, and organizations must disclose if out-of-state signature gatherers were hired to garner signatures.
Schwartz hopes to bypass some of the roadblocks the group has come up against in the past by working directly with candidates seeking election in Florida’s House and Senate. “We are now transitioning to being a single issue advocacy organization, and we want to make a difference, and I feel like this is the best way to do that,” she said.
Parkland Mayor Christine Hunschofsky, who is now running to represent House District 96 in Broward County, was the first candidate to sign on with the group, according to Schwartz. Democratic Rep. Carlos Smith, who is seeking reelection in House District 49 in Orange County, also announced Wednesday that he signed on to the pledge.
Candidates that are interested in receiving BAWN’s endorsement can sign the pledge on the organization’s website to affirm their support for co-sponsoring legislation to ban the sale and transfer of assault weapons. After signing the pledge, BAWN will reach out to candidates to plan how to support them, according to Schwartz.
The group will continue to announce candidates that it is supporting over the next two weeks. According to Brendan Olsen, the group’s executive director, support will go to candidates across the political spectrum in the Florida Legislature. “BAWN will work with anyone, regardless of political party, who is willing to help us take on gun violence by banning assault weapons,” Olsen wrote in Wednesday’s press release.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 6:06 PM.