Mar 17, 2023
iStock Florida - Florida's former NRA lobbyist, Marion Hammer, used to be a powerful force for gun rights. Sadly, that is no longer the case. Hammer, 83, was the first female NRA president and still serves on the Association's board of directors. She created the Eddie Eagle gun safety program, which taught millions of children what to do if they encounter an unattended firearm. She nearly singlehandedly pushed shall-issue concealed carry through the Florida legislature, which became the model for many other states. Unfortunately, while the battle to restore our gun rights never stopped, Hammer apparently did. Cracks began to appear, especially when constitutional carry or open carry were mentioned. After 25 other states passed constitutional carry, Florida gun owners began to wonder why we hadn't - why we were falling so far behind. In June, the NRA replaced Hammer with another lobbyist, Art Thomm, an experienced go-getter who had already helped pass constitutional carry in