Lauderhill commissioners vote in favor of resolution to try to reverse permitless carry
LAUDERHILL - In a unanimous vote, Lauderhill commissioners voted in favor of a resolution to try to reverse Florida House Bill 543, the law allowing permitless carry across the state.
"Right now, Florida ranks fourth in the nation in the highest number of mass shootings. That's an issue. And having this type of legislation where folks can really have permitless carry I think makes the situation worse," said Commissioner Melissa Dunn.
The issue hits close to home for the commissioners and many residents in Lauderhill. They say senseless gun violence continues to plague their community.
"To be impacted by this, I never thought I would've seen this coming," said Brittany Bucknor.
Bucknor is all too familiar with the heartache of losing a loved one to gun violence. She lost her only daughter, 19-year-old Destiny Bucknor in July, and her killer is still at large.
"I take it one day at a time. I miss her. I miss her TikTok's, I miss her calling me. It still feels like it's a nightmare," said Bucknor.
Bucknor and members of Lauderhill Peace 365 and Leading Ladies, community advocacy groups, attended Monday night's commission meeting.
The group of activists along with Commissioner Dunn are working on a petition pushing for stricter gun laws.
"Every woman that is standing here has lost some family member to an act of violence, especially gun violence and so it's imperative that we get as much signatures as we can and push to get 543 reversed," said Monique Henry, chairwoman of Leading Ladies.
So far, Commissioner Dunn says they have about 700 signatures for their petition.
She says the next step is to send the resolution to the governor's office, the Florida legislature, and other cities across the state in hopes of overturning permitless carry.