When Republican candidate for governor Rep. Byron Donalds called out Democratic candidate David Jolly for a “radical anti-gun past,” in the dustup that followed a leading gun rights group returned fire saying it was hypocritical for Florida Republicans to accuse anyone of being soft on Second Amendment rights.
Such is the complexity of gun politics in Florida where no one is happy, not Second Amendment advocates, nor those pushing for stricter regulations of the sale and ownership of firearms.
Gun politics are at a standstill in the state that gave birth to the Stand Your Ground self-defense law 20 years ago and then approved a series of foundational gun safety regulations after the 2018 mass killing at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which gun rights advocates have been trying to repeal since.
The social media flap Donalds provoked when he posted on X for Floridians to tell Jolly keep his hands off their guns unfolded over several hours, drew survivors of the Parkland shooting, and Second Amendment absolutists, and shows gun control remains a potential wedge issue in the coming campaign.
Seven years after a 19-year-old armed with a semi-automatic rifle gunned down 17 people in a high school’s hallways led to lawmakers passing the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, raising the age for firearm purchases among other things, the package of regulations now is criticized either for infringing on a constitutional right or not going far enough to promote gun safety.
Donalds, then in the Florida House, opposed the package of restrictions. Jolly, who has never served in the state's Legislature, has called for tougher regulations than exist.
The Gun Owners of America is party to a lawsuit to overturn provisions passed after the Parkland shootings, but the 2-million-member group also provided Jolly cover when the Republican Party of Florida joined Donalds' attack of Jolly on gun rights.
Although the gubernatorial primaries are a year away, Donalds and Jolly have no major opposition and are acting like their parties’ nominees.
The Donalds campaign released a video mashup – 11 comments spliced together in a 40-second stream – of Jolly talking about the Second Amendment and gun culture as a MSNBC commentator.
He said things such as there's a need to “change gun culture,” and he wants a “moon shot” on gun control laws, and that the Second Amendment “doesn’t say you have a right to walk into Walmart and buy a gun and buy ammunition.”
The video was backed by a statement from the Donalds campaign that Donalds “has never bowed to the gun control lobby and never will.”
Soon, Fred Gutenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter was murdered at Parkland, joined the debate.
“You are lying,” he replied to the X account called @ByronWarRoom. “Facts are David is committed to the 2A and gun rights, while also wanting to prevent gun violence.”
Republican Party of Florida chair Evan Power then entered the fight with a statement that painted Jolly as a delusional former congressman turned socialist cable news talking head who wants mass gun control.
That drew a rebuke from Luis Valdes. The southern director for Gun Owners of America did not speak up in defense of Jolly but to blast the GOP for giving cover to Republicans who have failed to support repeal of gun regulations and provisions of the Stoneman Douglas Act.
When told of Valdes’ complaint, Powers said in Florida “personal safety is a priority, and the Second Amendment protects a fundamental right.
“The Republican Party of Florida stands for empowering individuals, uphold the Constitution, and ensuring safety through responsible gun ownership,” Powers said.
GOA is a Virginia-based group that lobbies for Second Amendment rights at both the federal and state levels.
It is involved in two Florida lawsuits seeking repeal of the minimum age requirements for guns: The one on purchases enacted after the 2018 Parkland shooting that is now on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the minimum age requirement for concealed carry in federal court.
Talking while the impromptu gun debate played out on X, Valdes said he thinks Jolly is wrong on Second Amendment rights, but said "going after David Jolly but not anti-gun Republicans is hypocritical."
He said Florida GOP leaders, especially the seven Republican state senators, including Senate President Ben Albritton and former President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, who voted for the Stoneman Douglas law have repeatedly shown to be anti-gun so he is surprised the RPOF would try to wave a pro-gun banner.
Valdes cited a list of proposals that went unheard in committees during the 2025 session that would have repealed the under 21 bans on firearm purchases, concealed carry, campus carry, and the bump stock ban.
“All these major pro-guns legislation was blocked by Republican lawmakers and the Republican Party of Florida has the nerve to claim it’s pro-gun to go after David Jolly, that seems a bit hypocritical, doesn’t it,” Valdes said.
Meanwhile, surveys find Florida scores basically as average among states for gun control. Pro-gun Ammo.com ranks Florida as the 18th most friendly gun state, while Everytown for Gun Safety ranks Florida 21st in gun safety laws.
What this looks like at the state capital is that while Valdes cannot get bills loosening gun regulations through the process, neither can safety advocates like Sen. Tina Polsky, D-Boca Raton, get bills to tighten them heard in committees.
The past seven years Polsky has filed bills to regulate who can sell or buy firearms and bullets and mandate safe storage requirements without ever getting a hearing.
“I know they are not going to be heard, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try to do everything in our power to make our world safer,” Polsky told the USA TODAY Network – Florida.
Meanwhile Valdes said Gun Owners of America will not compromise: "We're talking about an inalienable right. A God-given right. No more, no less.
"There should be no compromise on the Second Amendment. To treat it as a red-headed stepchild of civil liberties is wrong,” Valdes added.
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected] and is on X as @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Byron Donalds, David Jolly clash over gun rights records
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