It seems like a million years ago but the date was actually February 14, 2018 when a 19-year old kid walked into the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida with his AR-15 and shot the place up. The final toll was 17 dead and another 17 injured, and the shooter is going to face 17 murder and 17 attempted murder counts when his trial finally takes place in September of this year.

              After the massacre, Trump went on TV and here’s a bit of what he said: “We must also work together to create a culture in our country that embraces the dignity of life, that creates deep and meaningful human connections and that turns classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbors.”

              Trump was concerned about the ‘dignity’ of life? Trump was worried about ‘deep and meaningful human connections?’ Give me a break. Oh well, the good news is that he’s gone. Anyway.

              Right after the shooting, the Florida Legislature quickly passed a new law, the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which bars anyone under the age of 21 from buying a long gun – Federal law already prohibits anyone under 21 from buying a handgun. Given that this was Florida, the ‘gunshine state,’ the law also created a new program, School Guardians, who are volunteers trained to patrol schools and carry guns.

              Two weeks ago, a District Court Judge upheld the law but yesterday the NRA announced they would appeal the case and try to get the judge’s ruling overturned, in particular, the prohibition against anyone owning a long gun who is not yet 21.

              “There is no question that 18-to-21-year-olds are adults in the eyes of the law and the Constitution,” says the NRA’s Florida lobbyist, Marion Hammer. “To deny those younger adults their rights because of the actions of criminals is nothing less than political discrimination.”

              Good old Granny Hammer. Here she is, all 81-years old and she’s still running around the State Capitol in Tallahassee trying to get gun things done. I love how she knows ‘for a fact’ that the Constitution says that 18-year-olds are adults. Which Constitution is she talking about?

              When it comes to gun laws, Florida is really in a class all by itself. Back in 1987, the state passed a law which prohibited localities from passing any gun law that is different from statewide law. They went back in 2011 and changed the law so that any local official who passes a local gun ordnance that pre-empts a state law will lose his job.

              The best gun law in Florida was actually a law that didn’t become a law. It was a bill filed by Idiot Number Two, Matt Gaetz, (Idiot Number One is Marjorie Taylor Greene) when he was a State Senator. The bill never got out of committee, even though it was a legislative committee chaired by Gaetz. The bill would have allowed people who were shot to sue the owner of a facility if the shooting took place in a gun-free zone.

              Maybe Gaetz figures that when Granny Hammer finally retires, that he can become the NRA’s lobbyist in Florida. Of course, it will be a little tough for him to buttonhole legislatures in the State House if he’s sitting in jail. Oh well, oh well.

              I don’t think the NRA really gives one rat’s damn about whether anyone in Florida who is 18 should be able to own an AR-15. What I think their challenge to the Florida gun law really represents is that life is slowly but (hopefully) returning to normal after the ravages of Covid-19.

              Because when you stop and think about it, what could be more normal than the NRA leading the crusade to protect our 2nd-Amendment ‘rights?’