When he signed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act seven months ago, Gov. Rick Scott said, “We have a lot of work ahead of us in order to enact these reforms and make our schools safer. This is a time for all of us to come together, roll up our sleeves and get it done.”
That is the Rick Scott his campaign wants voters to see as the governor runs against Sen. Bill Nelson. That is the Rick Scott portrayed in the new ad narrated by Andrew Pollack. His daughter, Meadow, was among the victims of the Stoneman Douglas Massacre.
Scott’s effort to scrub seven years of fealty to the National Rifle Association resembles his attempt to reinvent himself as an environmentalist. Red tide and algae have risen as campaign issues since the Parkland shooting.
Though gun violence may have receded, it remains a campaign issue. We saw it in the primary, and Scott’s ad aims at independents and perhaps a few Democrats.
But it’s one ad about one bill signing. Let’s look at Scott’s complete record on firearms.
In June 2016, the Pulse nightclub rampage killed 53 people. Until the Las Vegas massacre last year, Pulse was this country’s deadliest mass shooting. Here was Rick Scott afterward:
“Let’s remember, the Second Amendment has been around for over 200 years. That’s not what killed innocent people; evil killed innocent people.”
One month after Pulse, a shooting at a Fort Myers nightclub left two dead and nearly 20 wounded. Here was Rick Scott afterward:
“I support the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment has never shot anybody. Evil does this.”
In April 2017, the NRA’s lobbying organization held its annual forum in Atlanta. Scott was one of the featured speakers. Here is what he said:
“(Republicans) need a larger majority in the U.S. Senate. We need a majority that has the intellectual capacity to comprehend these three words in the Constitution: shall not infringe. What does ‘shall not infringe’ on the people’s right to bear arms mean? It means ‘shall not infringe.’ It’s really not very complicated.”
Scott also griped, jokingly, that the NRA’s political action committee had out-raised his in support of Donald Trump’s campaign. He argued that Supreme Court support for the Second Amendment should be unanimous, even though Antonin Scalia’s defining opinion says, “the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited.”
In Florida, Scott told the NRA, “We love tourists, new residents and the Second Amendment.”
Scott embodies that love. He showed it soon after taking office in 2011.
That year, the Legislature passed the so-called Firearms Owners’ Privacy Act. It prevented pediatricians from asking parents about firearms ownership. It violated the First Amendment, even though Second Amendment supporters claim repeatedly that they also cherish that protection.
Scott signed the bill. Six years later, most of it was dead, after court challenges that early legislative analyses had predicted would follow.
Also in 2011, Scott signed legislation that imposes potential fines and removal from office for local officials whom the NRA believes try to pass restrictions on firearms. Three decades ago, the Legislature put the state in charge. No other state preemption of city and county home rule, however, carries that punishment.
In 2014, Scott signed a record five bills that the NRA supported. One prohibited insurers from discriminating against firearms owners. Another made it easier to issue threats of deadly force. Another fast-tracked concealed carry permits. They got even faster tracking when Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s office issued them before completion of background checks.
Andrew Pollack says Scott “didn’t care about the politics” when he signed into law those mild firearms restrictions bill last March. Actually, Scott did care.
Scott cared that a dynamic group of young people had organized to shame Tallahassee into acting. He signed the bill because, facing a statewide campaign and public outrage, he had no choice. He couldn’t even approve money for school safety without taking it from academics.
And remember how Republicans complained about Democrats “politicizing” Parkland and other mass shootings? With the ad, Scott is doing his own politicizing.
So, yes, Scott cared about the Parkland politics as much as he had cared up until then about the politics of pleasing the NRA. The man who assails “career politicians” is acting just like one.
