Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday he may veto a raid on a trust fund that supports concealed weapons licensing.
Faced with an extraordinarily tough budget year, lawmakers have proposed spending $6 million of the roughly $8.5 million trust fund in other areas. That has prompted protests from the National Rifle Association as well as Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson, who oversees the weapons permitting program.
Bronson wrote to Crist that the proposal comes despite an "unprecedented surge" in permit requests. NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer stressed that the fund consists of fees charged gun owners, calling the use of those dollars for other purposes "a tax on the exercise of a constitutional right."
Crist, who is running for U.S. Senate, said he might veto the proposal today when he signs the budget. "I believe in the Second Amendment. I don't want there to be a backlog if people need to get those permits."
That disappointed Rep. Ed Hooper, R-Clearwater. Hooper, vice chairman of a government operations budget panel, questioned where Crist will find the money to offset the veto. "There's no anti-gun mentality about that sweep," he said. "That $6 million is there to balance the budget."
Catherine Dolinski
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