For sixth Session, ‘Jaime’s Law’ stalls unheard

For the sixth consecutive Session, legislation to mandate background checks for ammunition sales has failed to garner a single Committee hearing.

Companion bills (SB 88, HB 41) again remained inert this year as lawmakers crossed the Session midpoint, with neither proposal scheduled for debate.

The measures, filed by Boca Raton Sen. Tina Scott Polsky and Coral Springs Rep. Dan Daley — both Democrats — are now all but certain to fail in the GOP-dominated Legislature.

The bills would require the same background checks now mandated for firearm purchases to also apply to ammunition sales in Florida. Current law provides that buyers must pass a background screening to purchase a gun. No such check is required for bullets.

Daley, a graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, has filed the proposal — dubbed “Jaime’s Law” after 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg, one of 17 people killed in the 2018 school shooting — every year since 2019.

“This Legislature doesn’t want to have a serious conversation about even the most reasonable gun reforms. It’s just not going to happen,” Daley said. “It’s just a sad reality of where we are.”

Knowing that a vote was all but impossible, he said he requested a workshop on the matter, with representatives from the National Rifle Association and gun-control group Giffords as participants.

“They’re not willing to do that either,” he said, adding that despite the limited number of bill slots House members have, he intends to keep filing the legislation until the proverbial roadblock lifts or he leaves office.

Polsky called the repeated inaction frustrating.

“It’s not taking away anyone’s guns. It’s not taking away anyone’s ammunition,” she said. “It’s just that ammunition is the deadly part of a gun, so why wouldn’t we regulate it the same way we regulate a gun?”

She pointed to polling showing support for expanded background checks among both gun owners and non-gun owners.

“Gun violence is the No. 1 killer of children, so why don’t we do more to save children?” she asked.

The legislation includes exemptions for concealed carry permit holders, certain law enforcement officers and some long-gun purchases. Related bills (SB 90, HB 43) to shield background check records from public disclosure and require their destruction within 48 hours, mirroring current firearm rules, also again saw no play this year.

Polsky also pledged to keep filing the measure, which former Davie Democratic Sen. Lauren Book carried before her.

“I’ve represented Parkland for the last six years,” Polsky said. “That is an honor and a privilege that I do not take lightly, and I will always continue to fight for them.”