Reconvened Orange County Task Force promotes gun restrictions, repeal of ‘Stand Your Ground’
ORLANDO, Fla. (FLV) – The Orange County Citizens Safety Task Force reconvened with recommendations to promote gun restrictions, such as the repeal of “Stand Your Ground” law, on Wednesday.
The “Stand Your Ground Law” states that a person is “justified in using or threatening to use deadly force” if the person “reasonably believes that using or threatening to use such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”
The task force voted to approve the new recommendations Wednesday morning, which will go before the board of commissioners in August.
Other recommendations include requiring mental health checks for all gun purchases and prohibiting gun sales via internet.
Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings reconvened the task force March 2023 in response to the gun violence taking place in Orange County.
The task force had multiple committees: prevention subcommittee, prosecution subcommittee, intervention subcommittee and enforcement subcommittee.
Each subcommittee had a different focus, recommendations and proposed short-term actions.
The prevention subcommittee reviewed seven recommendations and modifications/revisions were made on some of the recommendations.
Some of the recommendations include expanding access to effective youth, parenting, mental and behavioral health programs, reducing access to illegal firearms, and communicating key issues and programs to the community.
The prevention subcommittee aims to expand education around “common sense gun safety legislation.”
Proposed long-term actions include:
- Repeal Stand your Ground
- Prevent child access
- Recording of lost/stolen firearms
- Strongly oversee gun sellers
- Comprehensive background checks including private transfers
- Eliminate “shall issue” to replace with “may issue”
- Stronger penalties to those who manufacture, sell and train people to use guns
- Prohibit sales via the internet
- Mental health check for all who wish to purchase guns
- Waiting periods
The prevention subcommittee also proposed long-term actions such as create an intersectional coalition to advise the Orange County Mayor and commission, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office the state, and provide “ongoing partnership for gun safety goals.”
The document said they may identify a non-partisan partner organization who can lead these efforts – such as the League of Women Voters.
The nonprofit, League of Women Voters, is listed as a nonpartisan political organization, however, they support the following:
- A state ban on all semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity feeding devices
- Comprehensive universal background checks and ensuring that the State provides all relevant records to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
- Continuing efforts to defeat unsafe gun legislation, such as Open Carry, Campus Carry, and Stand Your Ground expansion
Florida’s Voice previously reported the League of Women Voters, along with other plaintiffs, filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging Florida’s new congressional map for “violating the Florida Constitution.”
The Republican majority had approved the congressional map.
The prosecution subcommittee also added new recommendations such as increasing street cameras universally, not just in target areas.
Another recommendation is to identify a legislative advocate who will make recommendations for legislation that will “create protections for witnesses and neighboring persons to facilitate their willingness to share information.”
Co-Chairs:
- Jim Coffin, Retired, Interfaith Council
- Dr. James Doggette, Sr. Pastor, Patmos Chapel
Members:
- Arnie Amoros, Orange County District 4 Representative
- Barb Bergin, Crimeline Central Florida
- Johnny Brinson, Debra Clayton Bridging the Gap
- Charles Brown, Bridges International
- Chloe Johnson Brunson, Orange County District 1 Representative
- Lisa Coffey, Orange County Public Schools Social Services
- Linda Coffin, Moms Demand Action
- Jonathan Cox, Ph.D., University of Central Florida Department of Sociology
- Honorable Sr. Circuit Judge Daniel Dawson, Ninth Judicial Circuit
- Eric Debose, Orange County Sheriff’s Office & Youth Mentor
- Lisa Early, City of Orlando Families, Parks & Recreation Department
- Sandra Fatmi-Hall, Pine Hills Community Council
- Adam Hartnett, Poverty Solutions Group & Circles of Care
- Cory Austin Jackson, Valencia College Student
- Candice W. Jones, MD, FAAP, Board Certified Pediatrician
- Catherine Jones, Orange County District 5 Representative
- Pastor Sabrina Jones, Orange County District 2 Representative
- Subhash Kateel, Alliance for Safety and Justice & Florida Rights Restoration Coalition
- Barbara Lanning, League of Women Voters
- Ricky Ly, Jacobs Engineering & Advocate
- Marquis R. McKenzie, Sr., Orange County District 6 Representative
- Chief Mike McKinley, Apopka Police Department
- Bishop Derrick McRae, Experience Christian Center & African American Council of Christian Clergy
- Sheriff John Mina, Orange County Sheriff’s Office
- Miles Mulrain, Jr., Let Your Voice Be Heard
- Nancy Oesch, Oxford University Lecturer
- Tuan Payton, Former FBI
- Father Jose Rodriguez, Orange County District 3 Representative
- Reverend Dr. Gabriel Salguero, The Gathering Place & National Latino Evangelical Coalition
- Chief Eric Smith, Orlando Police Department
- Chief Assistant State Attorney Bill Vose, Retired, Ninth Judicial Circuit
- Honorable State Attorney Monique Worrell, Ninth Judicial Circuit
- Laddie Calloway, Greater Footsteps Foundation, Inc.
The task force was first convened in 2020 to engage faith-based leaders and community-based organizations to “brainstorm solutions and strategies to reduce and prevent gun violence and violent crime.”
The goal of reconvening the task force was to “re-examine the 2021 task force recommendations, make modifications as needed, as well as to ensure the recommendations continue to meet the public safety needs of the community.”
