Looking to make a political comeback and reclaim a seat in the Florida House, conservative Mike Hill came out swinging against gun control measures passed by the GOP controlled Legislature in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting.
Running in the Republican primary to replace outgoing state Rep. Clay Ingram to represent parts of Escambia County, Hill stressed his opposition to legislation passed in Tallahassee raising the minimum age to purchase guns from 18 to 21, sets up a three-day waiting period for buying rifles and bans bump stocks.
"Florida recently passed restrictive gun laws that were enacted by emotional mob rule resulting from an intellectually dishonest debate," Hill said. “It was dishonest because it purports to prevent future murders through legislation, something that God Himself hasn't achieved. It was mob rule because our legislators refused to debate facts over emotions.”
Despite Gov. Rick Scott signing the bill into law and the GOP controlling both chambers of the Legislature, Hill went after the Democrats on the issue.
"In 2017, there were 15 students killed by gunfire on public school grounds and Democrats used this to justify the theft of our constitutional rights in their legislative agendas,” Hill said. "There is one statistic which truly demonstrates the hypocrisy of this legislation: 128 people are killed annually by a school transportation vehicle. Will the new Democrat Party now call for bus-free zones?"
An Air Force veteran who led the Northwest Florida Tea Party, Hill was elected to the Florida House in a special election in 2013. Hill ran for a state Senate seat in 2016 but lost to Doug Broxson in the primary.
Since then, Hill moved slightly to the west to run for District 1 instead of his old District 2 House seat. He faces Rebekah Bydlak in the Republican primary.
