I’m Ready to Act. Are You?

Councilmember Hochkammer appointed to the National League of Cities’ Finance Committee
Councilmember Anna Hochkammer.

Did you know that Pinecrest used to have an ordinance on the books banning guns from our parks?  It’s gone now; cities were preempted by the legislature in 2011 from passing local gun control measures.  Today, if someone wanders down to the playground at Evelyn Greer Park with an AR-15 in his hand, there’s nothing our police can do to stop him.  Our legislators up in Tallahassee did that to us.  Do you feel safer now?

In the wake of the Parkland massacre, our community has been asking questions of our municipal leaders, schools and local police.  You want to know what we’re doing to keep you and your children safe. The answer is, “As much as we can.”  Our police have all the equipment and training they need to deal with an active shooter, and I have every confidence that if the unthinkable should happen here, our police force will do its duty.  Our schools are working fervently with the MDCPS administration and local PTAs to make our campuses as safe as they can be.  The Village of Pinecrest Council has passed a resolution urging the legislature to pass common-sense gun control measures like requiring comprehensive background checks for all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and lifting the preemption of municipal governments from acting on behalf of their residents when it comes to gun control. We also voted to join the lawsuit initiated by the City of Weston seeking to have the penalties against municipal elected officials who pass gun control measures found invalid.

Your village council is ready to act.  Your police are ready to act.  Your schools are ready to act.  The question that remains is, are you?

If you live east of 67 AVE in the Village of Pinecrest, you live in Florida House Seat 114.  You were not represented during this last legislative session because our representative, Daisy Baez, resigned after having been found to be living outside the district and then to have perjured herself about that fact.  On May 1, there will be a special election to elect her replacement.  Democrat Javier Fernandez and Republican Andrew Vargas are vying for the seat.  What are their positions on common-sense gun control legislation?  How would they vote on the issues of municipal preemption?  If you can’t answer those questions, I urge you to inform yourself and then vote your conscience. 

If you live west of 67 AVE in the Village of Pinecrest, you live in Florida House Seat 115.  Your current representative Michael Bileca is term-limited out of his seat, and so he cannot run for reelection in November.  There are several Republicans vying for the party nomination and a couple of Democrats, too.  The primary for that seat will be held this August, and the general election will be in November.  What are their positions on common-sense gun control legislation?  How would they vote on matters of preemption?  Again, if you can’t answer those questions, I urge you to inform yourself and vote. 

Our residents ask a lot of their elected officials, teachers and police.  That’s good.  We enjoy helping you and your family learn, grow, play, and work in a wonderful hometown.  The Village of Pinecrest Council advocates for you every day.  We will act.  Will you?


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16 COMMENTS

  1. If someone walked down the street or in the park openly carrying ANY firearm, that person could be arrested for “reckless display of a firearm” not sure if it is a misdemeanor or a felony. Why do you falsely state that anyone can now walk in the park openly carrying an AR-15 and the police has to allow it.
    You should inform yourself of the law if you are going to make these statements, unless you know you are lying and just want to inflame the issue.

  2. Where do these writers come from? They seem to live in an alternate reality.
    We had an armed school resource officer at the Parkland massacre that perhaps because of police union rules (an officer always has to have backup), or his instructions were to set up a perimeter, or just simply that he was a coward, he let Nikolas Cruz continue his murderous spree. And of course in an effort to manipulate school crime numbers, President Obama’s 2014 Promise Program mandated school officials to not write student miscreants so as not to blemish their futures. Consequently Cruz’s dozens of Sheriff’s Department visits to his home, school confrontations, cautionary calls to authorities warning of Cruz’s mental instability, never got acted upon and nothing was put on Cruz’s record, allowing Cruz to purchase weapons when he turned 18. The rest is history. We already have enough necessary laws on the books and agencies to enforce them. Let’s just insist everyone do what they are supposed to do.

  3. You are doing a lot of damage to your reputation by pushing false hoods. Florida is not an open carry state. To answer you’re question , no we are not ready to act . Stop trying to push a political agenda that takes rights away from law abiding people . Not a fan , won’t vote for you again

  4. It’s obvious that some individuals (including several from our neighboring municipalities) may disagree w/ Anna’s position on this issue. But that’s not a justification for some of the language used in previous comments. Seriously, this is a public platform – so I would encourage all to exercise civility in future comments.

  5. Do you actually think that if someone has the intention of shooting people (kids or otherwise) are going to care if there is a law stating that you cannot enter a park with a gun? COME ON!!! You really are INTENTIONALLY IGNORANT and/or an OPPORTUNIST for your own benefit! People like you should not be in office!

  6. See the video of Parkland police guard running away when he heard gunfire……yeah..the cops will protect us. Think about what really has to be done!!!
    Think….you have a Glock .40 with a limited range of accuracy. An AR 15 HAS INSTANT KILLING POWER AND LONG RANGE ACCURACY AND ONLY SWAT HAS AR 16 capability.
    Into the Valley rode the 600………

  7. Anna:

    I understand that this is a very emotional topic that hits close to all of us. That said, you open your article with a gross misrepresentation of the law. You cannot walk around carrying an AR15 around any park in pinecrest. In fact, you walk around carrying an AR15 anywhere in Florida outside of your home or a gun range. This is very basic knowledge, not “gun nut” knowledge, and it makes it hard to take the rest of your points seriously, which is unfortunate because I believe you may have a lot to contribute to this conversation and you are clearly passionate about it.

  8. Florida is not an “Open Carry” weapon state, period! All that being said I believe that Councilmember Anna Hochkammer’s message to get informed and vote with intent is always a good idea and worth reminding everyone. Check the candidates position on all the issues not just gun control legislation.

  9. I am not stating that EG Park is an open carry space. Alcohol is allowed in our parks. As for uniformity of law as an argument for preemption, as practiced in Tallahassee, it is a tool to ursurp local communities’ home rule.

  10. There are some misrepresentations in the article that I would like to clarify. Florida passed “The Joe Carlucci Uniform Firearms Act”, better known as Florida Statute 790.33 in 1987. The purpose of that section is to make firearms laws in the state of Florida uniform throughout, as to not unwittingly make criminals out of our citizens by simply crossing from one city or municipality to another. In 2011, the Florida Legislature amended the section to include penalties for elected officials who knowingly broke the law. Prior to that, elected officials would write ordinances in contradiction to this law, only to have them ultimately overturned, but not after wasting taxpayer money to defend their flippant disregard of the law. Now an elected official that decides to break the law is subject to a fine up to $5000 and can NOT use taxpayer money to defend their actions. Like any other penalties for breaking the law, these are the repercussions. There is nothing invalid about them.

    As to walking into Evelyn Greer Park with an openly carried AR-15? Already against the law. Florida Statue 790.053 – “Open carrying of weapons. – (1) Except as otherwise provided by law and in subsection (2), it is unlawful for any person to openly carry on or about his or her person any firearm or electric weapon or device.” If someone wandered into the park with a rifle or bottle of wine in her purse, the Pinecrest Police would be able to do something about it.

    I appreciate your effort to have people inform themselves about the candidates and to vote their conscience about the issues, let’s just try not to misinform, by accident or on purpose.

  11. Concealed carry vs open carry vs permitless carry. In FL, you can drive a truck through the holes, exceptions and work arounds. That’s why Pinecrest, FL banned guns from our parks. Then the legislature preempted us in 2011. #enough

  12. Great post! And a worthy reminder to make sure you are “election ready”
    So you can vote in local
    Elections, the primary in August and the important midterm elections in November. You can register online now at miamidade.gov, update your address, change your party affiliation, choose a party affiliation so you can vote in a
    Primary, and request an absentee ballot (good for students who leave Florida for college, or anyone who has trouble physically getting to the polls).
    Vote your voice!

  13. I don’t believe that you are correct that someone can walk into a park with an AR-15, or any other weapon openly carried. I do not support Tallahassee’s trying to control all gun laws in the state, but I want to make sure that information is correct. What is the source of your information?

  14. Shame on you! Make the parks “Gun Free Zones” like the schools so some crazy can go out there and slaughter a bunch of defenseless people. You liberals will never learn. When seconds count the police are minutes away. And, the Supreme Court of the United States has already ruled that police are under no obligation to protect private citizens. If you don’t believe that you just haven’t done your homework. So why don’t you take some time to study the U.S. Constitution before making such stupid assumptions.

  15. This is false. you cannot walk into a park or anywhere else with any type of gun. Florida does not allow open carry. i would think a government official would know the law.

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