Curbelo: Washington Should Look to Tallahassee as an Example of Political Courage Today

Press Release

Representative Carlos Curbelo (FL-26) issued the following statement regarding the Florida legislature's passage of gun and school safety legislation earlier today:

"This is a welcome step toward making our communities safer for all Floridians. I'm grateful to those in the Florida legislature -- on both sides of the aisle -- who led this effort and congratulate them on this meaningful action.

"While I am hopeful next week the U.S. House of Representatives will be taking up the STOP School Violence Act I co-sponsored, we must do more. There are common-sense proposals that would strengthen the Second Amendment for law-abiding citizens while keeping firearms out of the hands of terrorists, violent criminals and the mentally ill. Washington should look to Tallahassee as an example of political courage today. Americans are calling for and deserve meaningful action to ensure public safety."

BACKGROUND

In his initial reaction to the shooting, Curbelo called for action on several policies including strengthening the NICS system and working with social media companies to appropriately identify threats, banning bump stocks and preventing those with links to terrorist organizations from acquiring firearms, and raising the age for the purchase of long guns to 21, with exceptions for those in our military. Curbelo has also co-sponsored the bipartisan King-Thomspon legislation to expand background checks, and became the first Republican co-sponsor to Representative Stephanie Murphy's legislation to repeal the CDC ban on researching gun violence as a mental health issue.

Following the Las Vegas shooting last year, Curbelo joined with Representative Seth Moulton (MA-6) to introduce bipartisan legislation to ban the manufacture, sale, and use of "bump stocks" and similar devices. The legislation would also make violation of the law a felony and allow for increased penalties for offenders through a review of federal sentencing guidelines. Information on introduction is available here.

Following the Pulse shooting in Orlando, Curbelo led a bipartisan, bicameral group of Members to introduce the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, legislation that would deny the sale of firearms to those on No-Fly lists, and implement a five-year "look-back" provision to immediately notify the Attorney General and federal, state, and local law enforcement if anyone who is or was entered into the broader Terrorist Screening Database attempts to buy a gun from a licensed dealer. Information on introduction is available here.

Due to Congressional inaction on gun safety legislation in 2017, Curbelo voted against a concealed carry reciprocity bill in the House last year.

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