Florida Lawmakers Declare Pornography a Health Risk While Voting Down Assault Rifle Ban

On the same day that Florida lawmakers rejected a proposal to consider a ban on assault weapons following the mass school shooting last week, they approved a resolution declaring pornography as a public health risk.

The state’s House of Representatives passed a resolution on Tuesday which states there needs to be more education, research and policy changes “to protect Floridans, especially teenagers, from pornography.”

“Research has found a correlation between pornography use and mental and physical illnesses, difficulty forming and maintaining intimate relationships, unhealthy brain development and cognitive function, and deviant, problematic or dangerous sexual behavior,” Republican Rep. Ross Spano told the state’s House Health & Human Services Committee in January, according to Fox News.

But other lawmakers, including Democratic Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, criticized the vote for taking precedent over more important issues — gun control included.

“17 pp in Parkland were just murdered w/an AR-15, + the FL House just passed @RossSpano’s HR 157 declaring PORN as a public health risk,” the representative tweeted. “No, GUN VIOLENCE is a public health crisis + Spano blocked HB 219 banning assault weapons in his committee for 2 yrs.”

Smith tweeted another message after the House, led by Republicans, voted down a proposal to effectively table the discussion of criteria for possessing assault weapons in the state. He shared an article that showed a 16-year-old student sobbing from the gallery as the vote was blocked.

“After House Republicans blocked our assault weapons ban they did pass a bill declaring pornography a ‘public health risk.’ Has anyone had to bury their child because of PORN? @RossSpano made that a priority above gun violence. He needs to own it,” Smith continued.

The ban rejected by the House would have begun talks to bar large-capacity magazines and weapons including the AR-15, which was used by confessed gunman Nikloas Cruz to kill 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last week.

Following the House session, residents tweeted with emotionally-charged reactions over the lawmakers’ apparent priorities in the wake of Florida’s deadliest school shooting in history.

“The reason the Florida House declared pornography a health risk is that blindness and hairy palms make it harder to shoot a gun accurately,” one user wrote.

Another added, “Seems like some people are really into guns. I mean _INTO_. Can we declare gun porno a health risk?”

Some Stoneman Douglas students were in attendance during the House session when lawmakers shot down the proposal for stricter gun laws, while others were en route to the Capitol to discuss school safety with representatives.

Following the announcement, 16-year-old junior Sheryl Acquaroli was filmed bursting into tears and covering her mouth in disbelief of the outcome. Later, she said that should another tragedy happen in a Florida school, it would be on lawmaker’s hands.

“They had a chance to stop it today,” she said. “If there is another mass shooting (in Florida) it’s going to be their fault.”

Photo credit: Twitter / @rossspano