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Gun Control Debate Unleashed By Florida Shootings

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The massacre at the Orlando nightclub earlier this month lit the spark of another furious debate over gun control.

Illinois State University Assistant Professor of Politics and Government Kerri Milita has worked in Florida and is familiar with gun laws there and the constitutional issues surrounding it. During an appearance on Sound Ideas, Milita said Florida is known as the "Gunshine State," a moniker residents proudly tout.

"It's usually said with a fist-bump in the air. It's the land of state's rights and individual, libertarian rights and it's not seen as a bad thing," she said.

Milita said the National Rifle Association lobby is clearly the strongest in the United States.

"It's an absolute juggernaut in lobbying, not just congressmen but state legislators. They have 5 million dues-paying members. That's a gigantic interest group. Just to put that into perspective, their opponent group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, has less than 30,000 members," she said.

She said the second amendment to the Constitution, granting the right to keep and bear arms, should be subject to the same legal reviews as other parts of the Constitution.

"We've all agreed that how the courts interpret something as constitutional or legal, then that's what we have to accept as legitimate. The fact that they've (courts) drawn limitations on basically all of our rights that are spelled out in the Constitution in some form or another, they're all bounded rights, they're not unlimited. I think that applies to the second amendment as well, but then again, they (NRA) would want you to think otherwise," Milita added.

 

Willis is a Bloomington, IL, native. During his senior year at Bloomington High School, he finished third in the "Radio Speaking" division of the state speech contest, the only year he competed.
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