[Tallahassee] – Senator Shevrin Jones (D–West Park) and Representative Omari Hardy (D–West Palm Beach) filed SB 836 and HB 455, counterpart bills in the Senate and House, respectively, to combat gun violence in urban communities.
Senator Jones previously filed the Urban Core Gun Violence Task Force bill (2020) while in the Florida House along with Senator Jason Pizzo.
Solutions To Combat Gun Violence
The bill would create a task force to generate solutions to combat gun violence. This includes implementation of pilot programs that will provide data for evidence-based research. Gun-related injuries are one of Florida’s leading causes of death, and South Florida is especially vulnerable. The issue has become even more pressing during the pandemic. Crime, domestic violence, and homicides have increased in many areas.
“Gun violence has claimed far too many in our communities, with fatalities often unreported and simply accepted as ‘the way things are,’” said Senator Jones. “These are preventable tragedies. I’m committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass this bill. This will keep our people and neighborhoods safe.”
“The courageous survivors of the Parkland Massacre are the national faces of America’s gun violence epidemic. But in mine and Senator Jones’s communities, the faces of the gun violence epidemic are of a different hue,” said Representative Hardy. “The shootings plaguing our communities are not like the mass shootings that make the national news, but they are no less tragic. We lose 26 Black people to gun violence every day in America. Every day, gun violence brings tragedy to dozens of families in Black communities across this country. We can end this kind of gun violence. But, we need solutions that are tailored to the problem. That is what this bill is intended to provide.”
