You’re Not Going To Get To Vote On Gun Control In November — Because Of A Technicality

WLRN 91.3 FM | By EMILY L. MAHONEY

Published March 21, 2018 at 5:58 PM EDT

People protest against guns on the steps of the federal courthouse on February 17, 2018 in Fort Lauderdale, three days after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that killed 17.

Floridians will not vote on adding gun control measures to the state constitution this year because a state board, citing technical rules, rejected the proposals Wednesday.

The 37-member Constitutional Review Commission is an obscure yet powerful body that meets every 20 years to propose changes to the Florida constitution, which are then put on the November ballot. During a marathon meeting in the Capitol, several commissioners from both parties tried to add three different gun-related amendments to a proposal related to land ownership.

Because the deadline to propose original ballot measures passed before the Feb. 14 Parkland massacre, some commissioners hoped to amend existing proposals so they could get the gun measures before voters.

But a majority of commissioners repeatedly declared the amendments were on a topic unrelated to the existing proposal and refused to waive the rules, preventing even a discussion of adding permanent gun restrictions to the state constitution.

Read more at our news partner, the Miami Herald.