After the killing of three deputies and a little boy, Florida voters demanded background checks for private gun sales. And then, the whole thing fizzled.
BY PETER JAMISON
With their newly granted authority, Florida’s most populous urban counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, rushed to enact ordinances regulating gun shows. From a distance, it looked like a bracing example of voters making their will known on an issue that confounds politicians....
Vickie Childers, left, hugs Donna Bell after the jury's verdict. Their husbands, Ricky Childers and Randy Bell, were killed by Hank Earl Carr. [Times photo: Tony Lopez]
BY PETER JAMISON
TAMPA BAY TIMES
It was a rare moment (click here) in American public life: A killer’s shooting spree had claimed lives young and old, giving rise to a burst of political will to strengthen gun laws.
In November 1998, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the state Constitution that allowed counties to mandate background checks for private gun sales — closing the so-called “gun-show loophole.”
Public support for universal background checks had surged over the summer after Tampa resident Hank Earl Carr, a volatile ex-felon who acquired a stockpile of firearms despite his criminal record, fatally shot three law enforcement officers and a 4-year-old boy. The constitutional amendment passed with 72 percent of the vote.
With their newly granted authority, Florida’s most populous urban counties, including Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, rushed to enact ordinances regulating gun shows. From a distance, it looked like a bracing example of voters making their will known on an issue that confounds politicians....Vickie Childers, left, hugs Donna Bell after the jury's verdict. Their husbands, Ricky Childers and Randy Bell, were killed by Hank Earl Carr. [Times photo: Tony Lopez]
