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Florida Firearm Background Checks and Waiting Periods Initiative (2020)
| Florida Firearm Background Checks and Waiting Periods Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Firearms | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Firearm Background Checks and Waiting Periods Initiative (Initiative #19-03) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020.[1]
The measure would have extended the current three-day waiting period for purchase of handguns to all firearms. It would have also required background checks performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to be performed on the purchaser. The measure would have removed the background check exception for trade-ins and concealed weapons permit holders.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The title would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | FIREARM PURCHASE BACKGROUND CHECK[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Extends the current 3-day waiting period between purchase and delivery at retail of a handgun to all purchases of all firearms. Requires that before delivery is made, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement conduct a background check on the purchaser and the seller receive a response approving the transfer of the firearm. Defines background check. Deletes current exclusion for concealed weapons permit holders and trade ins. | ” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Florida Constitution
The measure would have amended Section 8(a) of Article I of the Florida Constitution. The following underlined text would have been added and struck-through text would have been deleted:[1]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
ARTICLE I, SECTION 8. Right to bear arms.— (a) The right of the people to keep and bear arms in defense of themselves and of the lawful authority of the state shall not be infringed, except that the manner of bearing arms may be regulated by law.
(b) No firearm shall be sold and delivered to a purchaser until after There shall be a mandatory period of three days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, between the purchase and delivery at retail of any firearm, and the seller receives a response of the background check on the purchaser approving the transfer of the firearm handgun. For the purposes of this section, “purchase” means the transfer of money or other valuable consideration to the seller retailer, and “background check” means the background check performed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on potential transferees before the transfer of a firearm from a retailer “handgun” means a firearm capable of being carried and used by one hand, such as a pistol or revolver. Holders of a concealed weapon permit as prescribed in Florida law shall not be subject to the provisions of this paragraph.
(c) The legislature shall enact legislation implementing subsection (b) of this section, effective no later than December 31, 1991, which shall provide that anyone violating the provisions of subsection (b) shall be guilty of a felony. Subsection (b) is self-executing, and no Legislative implementation is required. Anyone violating the provisions of subsection (b) shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree.
(d) This restriction shall not apply to a trade in of another handgun.[2]
Sponsors
Floridians for Universal Background Checks filed the initiative.[1]
Polls
In a 2019 St. Pete Polls poll, voters were asked the following question:[3]
| “ |
Would you support a state Constitutional Amendment that would require universal background checks on all sales of firearms in Florida?[2] |
” |
Poll results are detailed below.
| Florida Background Checks and Waiting Periods Initiative | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Support | Oppose | Unsure | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| St. Pete Polls 5/6/19 - 6/1/19 | 76.8% | 17.1% | 6.1% | +/-1.6 | 3,790 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Florida, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential election. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equaling at least 8% of the district-wide vote in the last presidential election be collected from at least half (14) of the state's 28 congressional districts. Signatures remain valid until February 1 of an even-numbered year.[4] Signatures must be verified by February 1 of the general election year the initiative aims to appear on the ballot.
Proposed measures are reviewed by the state attorney general and state supreme court after proponents collect 25% of the required signatures across the state in each of one-half of the state's congressional districts (222,898 signatures for 2024 ballot measures). After these preliminary signatures have been collected, the secretary of state must submit the proposal to the Florida Attorney General and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC). The attorney general is required to petition the Florida Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the measure's compliance with the single-subject rule, the appropriateness of the title and summary, and whether or not the measure "is facially invalid under the United States Constitution."[5]
The requirements to get an initiative certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 766,200 valid signatures
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was February 1, 2020. As election officials have 30 days to check signatures, petitions should be submitted at least one month before the verification deadline.
In Florida, proponents of an initiative file signatures with local elections supervisors, who are responsible for verifying signatures. Supervisors are permitted to use random sampling if the process can estimate the number of valid signatures with 99.5% accuracy. Enough signatures are considered valid if the random sample estimates that at least 115% of the required number of signatures are valid.
Details about the initiative
- The initiative was approved for circulation on February 13, 2019.[1]
- The measure was removed from the state's list of action petitions as of October 11, 2019.[1]
See also
External links
- Florida Division of Elections Booklet: Proposed Constitutional Amendments 2020 General Election
- Initiative information
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Florida Department of Elections, "Initiative Information," accessed February 15, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ St. Pete Polls, "Subject: Florida Statewide survey conducted for StPetePolls.org," accessed June 13, 2019
- ↑ Before the passage of Florida Senate Bill 1794 of 2020, signatures remained valid for a period of two years
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Florida Senate Bill 1794," accessed April 13, 2020
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State of Florida Tallahassee (capital) |
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