Sachs Bill Would Ban 'High-Capacity Weapons' in Florida

Sen. Maria Sachs, D-Delray Beach, introduced Monday Senate Bill 1726, an Act Relating to Weapons and Firearms, which calls for a prohibition on the possession, sale, transfer or manufacture of high-capacity weapons in Florida. 

High-capacity AR-15 assault rifle

Sachs said her movtivation for the bill was Sunday's gun massacre of at least 49 people in a gay nightclub in Orlando -- now called the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Sachs said in a press statement one of the weapons shooter Omar Mateen used was an AR-15-type assault rifle.

"The military adaptation of this very same gun, the M-16, is used by U.S. armed forces in combat," the senator explained. "Versions of this assault firearm were used in the recent San Bernardino, California shooting massacre, as well as the horrific attack on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut."

Sachs, who has announced she will not run for reelection in November, said the right to bear arms, guaranteed by the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, "should not include the right to bear all types of firearms such as bazookas, 50-caliber machine guns and, especially in light of the mass-shooting in Orlando, AR-15s and similar high-capacity firearms. 

"This madness will end when legislators get the courage and determination to pass laws that will protect the people from madmen with assault firearms," she continued. "We need to take action on banning high-capacity weapons like the AR-15 and other similar guns in our state as soon as possible. ..."

Sachs said she also wants more stringent background checks on the sale and purchase of firearms and bases that on Mateen's "history of mental instability" and the number of times he was singled out for an FBI interview.

Lawmakers already are predicting the Orlando terrorist attack will unleash a flurry of bills in 2017 aimed at restricting gun ownership and preventing a repeat of the Pulse nightclub tragedy.