Subscribers to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune might want to read this . . .

What has the Sarasota Herald-Tribune come to?

Twitter account of Herald-Tribune
"News Editor/Gun Writer" Lee Williams

On March 28th, 2018, Sarasota Herald-Tribune news editor Lee Williams interviewed NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer. 

This is what happened next:

Gun Writer and newspaper editor calls

Parkland response 'macabre and evil,'

asks NRA lobbyist 'How can we help?'

Lee Williams -- the Gun Writer columnist who also happens to be a Sarasota Herald-Tribune news editor -- hosted a half-hour podcast Wednesday with Marion Hammer, the Florida NRA lobbyist. 

https://omny.fm/shows/the-gun-writer/ep-30-floridas-nra-lobbyist-marion-hammer-joins-th 

Hammer said she thought gun-control advocates had a game plan ready to use victims and families of the next mass shooting in America, which happened to be in Parkland, Fla.  Rather than ask follow-up questions for details and corroboration, the Gun Writer shared her outrage over the gun-control response. 

“I don’t even know how you’d sit in a room and come up with this," Williams said. "That is so macabre and evil.”  

Hammer described how lawmakers in Tallahassee were lobbied for gun-control votes in the days after the Parkland murders. The families of victims were brought in to ask how they'd vote. 

“None of that’s been reported,” said Williams — who directs news coverage for the Herald-Tribune, but declined to have Sarasota reporters share his interview with a highly sought-after Florida news source. 

The Gun Writer did agree that media pressure was a huge factor in the Tallahassee gun-control vote. And he wanted to know when the Florida NRA would be updating grades on state lawmakers. 

“That was my next question," Williams told Hammer. "What can we do to help?”

Is it time for practitioners of actual journalism to take a hard look at what this newspaper, formerly owned by the New York Times, has become?

Florida in the grip of the Gun Lobby.

This interview ought to be an eye-opener. It describes NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer as essentially writing the laws that have turned Florida into one of the more "accommodating" states in the US when it comes to gun control. "Stand your ground" and Open Carry are two well known examples of a legislative influence that has designs on reshaping the way we perceive guns throughout the USA.

Fresh Air Interview: Terry Gross speaks with reporter who covers the NRA

Journalist Mike Spies says the NRA's push to allow guns on college campuses, daycare centers and bars is part of an effort to "normalize gun carrying as much as possible in American public life."

Hammer earns $200K a year writing gun legislation and making sure Florida's Republican legislature passes it:

. . . because [Hammer is] so enmeshed in the culture of the state and because Florida is a state that has a very high population of NRA members, she's able to function as an unelected legislator and often has more power than legislators do and is able to tell governors what to do and able to tell Republican lawmakers there what to do. And that is - that is what she does.

Full transcript here. 

See also: 

Miami Herald: NRA wants more gunslingers in the nation’s bloodiest mass-shooting state (Jan. 2017)

WLRN Interview with Hammer from 2013

Hammer as seen by the NRA

Hammer (via Miami Herald)

Public Lands: Mobilize to fight SB 1290

Call your Senator to stop SB 1290

From: Frank Jackalone:

Sierra Club lobbyist Dave Cullen reports that the ​state lands bill, SB 1290, which threatens ​Florida's public lands, especially ​our state parks, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.  Its companion bill, HB 1075, also passed last week on the floor of the House of Representatives.  

Our last chance to defeat or improve SB 1290 is on the Senate floor this week.  

Sierra Club Florida will take two actions to mobilize grassroots in opposition to the bill.  First, we will distribute an alert on Sunday to all Sierra Club members in Florida asking them to call their state senators. 

Second, we will involve as many volunteers as possible in a virtual phone bank to generate calls from our members to their senators all day Monday, 9:00 am to 6 pm.  

Anyone can join our virtual phone bank from the comfort of your home, office, park -- just about anywhere!  We use a system that allows you to make calls from any location if you have a computer with an online connection and a phone.   It's the same technology we used to help beat the fracking bill last week, involving 19 volunteers who reached more than 1,000 of our members and got 200 calls transferred directly to their senators. 

Can you give us an hour or more to make calls?  All you need is a phone line and a connected computer.  We'll provide the names and phone numbers of our members and show you how to connect automatically to a live person and connect that person directly to their Senator's office.

If you are interested and available, please reply directly tophil.compton@sierraclub.org and he'll get you scheduled to participate in the phone bank.

Thanks for your help!

- Frank

Frank Jackalone Senior Organizing Manager 1990 Central Avenue St. Petersburg, FL 33712 Office: 727-824-8813, x302;  Cell: 727-804-1317 www.sierraclubfloridanews.org www.facebook.com/sierraclubfl

Here is the text of the alert we are sending to all Sierra Club Florida Members tomorrow:

​Cattle grazing in state parks? Call your Senator to stop it.

​Dear friend,

We urgently need you to call your state Senator. A bill is headed to the Senate floor that would remove key environmental protections for Florida State Parks and threaten the use and enjoyment for all Floridians. 

SB 1290 passed out of its last committee last Thursday and ​will  be brought to the floor of the Senate​this week.

  

Please call your Senator and urge him or her to vote ‘No’ unless SB 1290 is amended to:

•      Exclude our state parks and preserves from the land exchange provision.  These important lands must not be given up to private use in exchange for conservation easements that could well eliminate public access

• Require land management plans to remain consistent with the purposes for which they were acquired.  DEP’s goal of requiring land management plans to be compatible with conservation or recreation purposes or both potentially opens our parks and other conservation lands to inappropriate uses like hunting, logging, grazing, and off road vehicles. ‘Conservation’ and ‘recreation’ are broad categories and the purposes the lands were acquired for may be much narrower.  The bill’s language grants DEP too much discretion. 

This is the last real chance to impact this bill.  The House and Senate versions are the same and could be sent to the Governor next week.  Please call your Senator now, tell them where you live and that you vote.

Call your Senator now:​

Sen. Joseph Abruzzo	Consists of part of Palm Beach county	850-487-5025
Sen. Thad Altman	Consists of parts of Brevard, Indian River counties	850-487-5016
Sen. Aaron  Bean	Consists of Nassau county and part of Duval county	850-487-5004
Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto	Consists of parts of Charlotte, Lee counties	850-487-5030
Sen. Rob Bradley	Consists of Alachua, Bradford, Clay counties	850-487-5007
Sen. Jeff Brandes	Consists of parts of Hillsborough, Pinellas counties	850-487-5022
Sen. Oscar Braynon	Consists of parts of Broward, Miami-Dade counties	850-487-5036
Sen. Dwight Bullard	Consists of Hendry, Monroe counties and parts of Collier, Miami-Dade counties	850-487-5039
Sen. Jeff Clemens	Consists of part of Palm Beach county	850-487-5027
Sen. Charles Dean	Consists of Baker, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, Union counties and part of Marion county	850-487-5005
Sen. Nancy Detert	Consists of Sarasota county and part of Charlotte county	850-487-5028
Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla	Consists of part of Miami-Dade county	850-487-5040
Sen. Greg Evers	Consists of Escambia, Santa Rosa counties and part of Okaloosa county	850-487-5002
Sen. Anitere Flores	Consists of part of Miami-Dade county	850-487-5037
Sen. Don Gaetz	Consists of Bay, Holmes, Jackson, Walton, Washington counties and part of Okaloosa county	850-487-5001
Sen. Bill Galvano	Consists of DeSoto, Glades, Hardee counties and parts of Charlotte, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee counties	850-487-5026
Sen. Rene Garcia	Consists of part of Miami-Dade county	850-487-5038
Sen. Andy  Gardiner	Consists of parts of Brevard, Orange counties	850-487-5013
Sen. Audrey Gibson	Consists of part of Duval county	850-487-5009
Sen. Denise Grimsley	Consists of Okeechobee county and parts of Highlands, Martin, Osceola, Polk, St. Lucie counties	850-487-5021
Sen. Alan Hays	Consists of parts of Lake, Marion, Orange, Sumter counties	850-487-5011
Sen. Dorothy Hukill	Consists of parts of Lake, Marion, Volusia counties	850-487-5008
Sen. Travis Hutson	Consists of Flagler, Putnam, St. Johns counties and part of Volusia county	850-487-5006
Sen. Arthenia Joyner	Consists of parts of Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas counties	850-487-5019
Sen. Jack Latvala	Consists of part of Pinellas county	850-487-5020
Sen. Tom Lee	Consists of part of Hillsborough county	850-487-5024
Sen. John Legg	Consists of parts of Hillsborough, Pasco counties	850-487-5017
Sen. Gwen Margolis	Consists of part of Miami-Dade county	850-487-5035
Sen. Bill Montford	Consists of Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla counties	850-487-5003
Sen. Joe Negron	Consists of parts of Indian River, Martin, Palm Beach, St. Lucie counties	850-487-5032
Sen. Garrett Richter	Consists of parts of Collier, Lee counties	850-487-5023
Sen. Jeremy Ring	Consists of part of Broward county	850-487-5029
Sen. Maria Sachs	Consists of parts of Broward, Palm Beach counties	850-487-5034
Sen. David Simmons	Consists of Seminole county and part of Volusia county	850-487-5010
Sen. Wilton Simpson	Consists of Hernando county and parts of Pasco, Sumter counties	850-487-5018
Sen. Christopher Smith	Consists of part of Broward county	850-487-5031
Sen. Eleanor Sobel	Consists of part of Broward county	850-487-5033
Sen. Darren Soto	Consists of parts of Orange, Osceola, Polk counties	850-487-5014
Sen. Kelli Stargel	Consists of parts of Orange, Osceola, Polk counties	850-487-5015
Sen. Geraldine Thompson	Consists of part of Orange county	850-487-5012

Thank you for taking action and for all you do for Florida's environment!

Dave Cullen
Lobbyist
Sierra Club Florida 

The NRA: Rick Scott's biggest fan

Do you think the Sarasota Commission's decision on hunting might have to do with more than just the wishes of local hunters?

Do you think Rick Scott got into office by his looks?  

ALERT: Governor Rick Scott Makes History Signing 5 Pro-gun Bills

NRA endorses SCOTT

Based on his leadership on Second Amendment issues, Governor Scott has earned an “A+” rating from the NRA-PVF in the 2014 general election. An “A+” is the highest possible rating and is reserved for elected officials with an excellent public record on critical NRA issues who have also made a vigorous effort to promote and defend the Second Amendment.

Florida Alert! Governor Rick Scott has SIGNED the Mandatory Evacuation Bill into Law

SB-290, Firearms/Emergency Evacuation by Senator Jeff Brandes (R-St. Petersburg) and Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen (R-Ft. Myers) was signed into law yesterday by Governor Rick Scott and took effect immediately.
SB-290 is a bill to protect citizens from being disarmed and charged with a crime for carrying a weapon or firearm when in the process of evacuating during a mandatory evacuation ordered by the Governor or a local government during a declared state of emergency.   

A-rating from the NRA

Rick is the only candidate for governor to receive an A-rating from the NRA.

Sarasota County Opens Door to Hunting on Public Lands

SARASOTA - A new ordinance will pave the way for people to use publicly owned preserves in Sarasota County to hunt for animals such as deer, hogs and coyotes.

Facts

WHAT'S NEXT?

Although Sarasota County commissioners voted Monday to approve hunting on public lands, before anyone can do so, the county must also publicly approve the activity for each property on a case-by-case basis. The areas mostly likely to be opened for hunters are located in the rural areas east of Interstate 75. Expect a similar debate when individual properties come up for a vote.

Through a 4-1 vote, Sarasota County commissioners approved a broad new policy on Monday that opens the door for hunting on certain county-owned property — including land purchased through a special tax approved by voters to protect environmentally sensitive land and wildlife.

The measure, which drew wide support from avid hunters and equally forceful criticism from environmentalists, lifts a longstanding ban on hunting at public recreation areas, natural areas and beach parks.

Opponents cited safety concerns and strict language in the conservation program used to buy much of the forestry in question, which they argued was drafted specifically to prevent this type of activity.

But the commission — mostly gun-supporters and hunters themselves — sided with the advocates who said more hunting opportunities would benefit the general public.  MORE . . .

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"Part of NRA’s mission is to promote and defend hunting as a shooting sport and as a viable and necessary method of fostering the propagation, growth, and conservation, and wise use of our renewable wildlife resources."  Interested Parties.

Target Shooters tear up National Forests

From the NYT:

Target Shooters Bring Mayhem to National Forests

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD

AUG. 22, 2015

Recreational target shooters call it “trigger trash” — tons and tons of refrigerators, car parts, televisions, sofas, bowling pins and other unwanted junk that shooters haul onto pristine federal woodlands and shred with gunfire for sheer enjoyment.

The abuses are scarring forest lands from the Carolinas to the Pacific Northwest. An emergency halt to target shooting had to be issued for the Croatan National Forest, in North Carolina, after hundreds of complaints from alarmed visitors. Forest Service records show an increasing raft of violations, like shooting from cars and shooting in campgrounds. More...