TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – State Representative Mike Hill has filed a bill to repeal gun control measures passed by the Florida legislature after last year’s deadly mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The Republican from Pensacola believes the new laws violate Floridians’ Second Amendment right to bear arms.
News 6 Investigator Mike DeForest asked him what else Florida lawmakers can do to prevent gun violence. See Hill's answers below:
Is the Florida Legislature doing enough to prevent gun violence?
I don't know. I don't know. Because I'm not sure that simply by taking weapons away if that is reducing gun violence. Again, the problem comes with the person. And I don't believe the Florida Legislature is able to control people, to control their heart, so they do not do a violent problem.
Then how do we stop Floridians from dying?
How do we stop them from dying? We don't even have a God who can stop people from dying. So Florida can't do it.
So it's hopeless?
No, I'm not saying it's hopeless. I'm saying what we do as a society is, we do not infringe upon our right to possess and bear arms. The Parkland Commission came out with their findings. One of their recommendations is to have armed people at the schools. That is how you stop violence. When someone, a bad person with a gun, it takes a good person with a gun to stop them.
But is there something more, outside of these, something new that hasn't been tried yet, that you'd like to recommend -- or you know your colleagues are going to try to recommend -- that can try to get us in a better place? Or is this acceptable, where we're at right now?
No, it's not acceptable. Violence is never acceptable. But I don't have the answer to that, what else can be done to stop violence in Florida. It's a condition of the heart. We have a commandment from the Lord that says 'thou shalt not kill.' And it happens. So if God can't stop it, what makes someone think I can stop it?