Collier County group against legislation it believes restricts gun rights in states

A big group in Collier County says lawmakers in Washington D.C. want to take away their rights to pack heat. They’d force them to follow federal gun laws instead of Florida’s, which gun owners feel are unconstitutional.

James Rosenberger is not a gun guy, yet he and his wife Carol DiPaolo are pushing Collier County Board of County Commissioners to beef up the Second Amendment in Collier County.

“This is not a political agenda, and it’s not politically motivated,” Rosenberger said. “This is not really about the gun issue as far as I’m concerned this is about the Constitution of the United States and what people died for almost 250 years ago.”

Part of that is the constitutional right to bear arms, and the couple feels like it’s under attack by bills such as H.R. 125 – Gun Safety: Not Sorry Act of 2021.

Under this law, any prospective gun owner would have to wait seven days rather than Florida’s three days to purchase a gun.

“Is the ATF, federal agents, gonna knock on your door and say, ‘Hand over your guns?'” DiPaolo said.

In response to bills like this, the group in Collier has collected 5,500 signatures supporting their “Second Amendment Protection Act” (SAPA) which says unconstitutional gun regulations will not fly in Collier County, and Sheriff Kevin Rambosk doesn’t have to enforce them.

Rambosk responded in a letter to Rosenberger.

“I affirm that I support the rights guaranteed through the Constitution of the United States and all of the amendments and that I do not condone any unconstitutional infringement upon these rights,” Rambosk shared in his letter.

Kim Craig, the local lead for the Naples chapter of Moms Demand Action hopes commissioners don’t support SAPA, saying she supports restrictions on guns if it saves lives.

“But it would create chaos if a county commissioner or their constituents didn’t support federal or state legislation,” Craig said.

It’s up to commissioners to decide. The man who created the petition will speak at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting, which starts at 9 a.m.