Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has become incredibly popular among politically conservative Americans over the last few years due to his outspoken positions on a number of issues and his unwillingness to put up with harassment from the mainstream legacy media.
Because of this, many people think that DeSantis may be considering running for President in the future. But what about Americans outside of Florida who love their Second Amendment rights (not all of whom are politically conservative)? What has DeSantis done to win them over?
Well, DeSantis has the chance to make a positive impression on pro-2A people outside of Florida. Let me explain.
The Florida Commissioner of Agriculture proposed legislation that you’ll appreciate (hat tip to here for the lead). From that press release from the State of Florida:
Today, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, State Senator Danny Burgess, and State Representative John Snyder announced proposed legislation to prohibit the collection of Floridians’ financial data from firearm and ammunition purchases.
The press release continues:
Commissioner Simpson laid out what he calls the “Florida Arms and Ammo Act” aimed at prohibiting financial institutions from collecting and monitoring information on law-abiding Floridians’ firearm and ammunition purchases.
Again, from the press release:
“This is the United States of America. You don’t get penalized for exercising a Constitutional right. The Second Amendment is nonnegotiable, and here in Florida, we are going to fight to protect the rights of Floridians,” said Senator Burgess.
Of course, if this legislation passes and DeSantis signs it into law, that would be a big win for the gun rights of people in Florida.
But here’s why it would be good for Americans in other states, too: what happens in states with larger populations tends to influence trends in other parts of the country. Why? For political movements, those larger populations can vote for legislators and Presidents who go along with their viewpoints. From a business side of things, if a business puts out a product that is popular in a very populous state, then, they can sell there and are less likely to develop differing products for other smaller states (if you want to see an example of that, just research how California’s text book purchases drives what textbooks are offered in schools across America. It will both infuriate you and explain a lot of things that are going on in America.).
Will Florida influence the rest of the country? To evaluate that, consider the fact that Florida is the third most populous state in the country, and also keep in mind that, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Florida was the fastest growing state last year in terms of population (yes, even faster than Texas with all of the people leaving California and moving to Texas).
With a population larger than the State of New York and growing, there’s no question that what happens in Florida will influence what happens in other states. So, if this bill passes in Florida, it could drive the conversation around this issue much more powerfully than even a group of less populace states (like the seven mentioned here) will.
That could be good for all Americans.