Just three days after 17 students and faculty were killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, one of the state’s biggest gun-expo organizers is holding a gun convention in Miami — just 46.9 miles away.
The Florida Gun show has had their 600-booth convention planned for months, and despite the fact the South Florida community is still reeling from the shooting, the convention will go on.
“Yes, the show is still scheduled for this weekend,” organizers confirmed to the Miami New Times.
“Enjoy an enormous array of firearms, ammunition, shooting supplies, knives, and so much more!” the Florida Gun Show organizers boast in a promotional video posted on their Facebook page. The group will also host a gun show at Fort Walton Beach this weekend too, in the state’s panhandle.
For the low cost of $13 per adult (children under 12 get in free), convention attendees can take advantage of some of the weakest gun laws in the country.
You don’t need a license or registration to own a gun. Assault weapons are unregulated. For rifles and shotguns, you do not need a permit to conceal carry (though handguns do require it). You can buy as many guns at one time as you want. A gun seller in Florida needs no license to sell guns in the state. An individual has to be 21 years of age to purchase a handgun, but only 18 years old to purchase an AR-15, as was the case with the Parkland shooter.
In Florida, it is easier to buy a gun than it is to vote.
Florida also has a massive loophole for weapons bought at gun shows, like the one in Miami this weekend: At gun shows, like most other online or private gun sales, criminal background checks are not required.
This isn’t the first tone deaf gun event in the wake of the Parkland shooting. A Republican congressional candidate in Kansas, Tyler Tannahill, is holding a raffle for an AR-15 rifle just days after the tragedy in Florida.
“I don’t think more laws could have prevented [the shooting],” Tannahill told the Kansas City Star, adding that the winner of the raffle would have to pass federal background checks before receiving the gun. The Parkland school shooter, Cruz, also passed federal background checks to legally obtain the AR-15 he used to murder 17 people.