A bill to curb gun ranges in backyards did not make it out of a Florida House committee, failing on an 8 to 5 vote Tuesday.
State Rep. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg filed HB 623 after a St. Pete man set up a gun range in his yard, prompting complaints and an online petition from neighbors asking for the bill. And that's just the latest incident in the state.
Current Florida statutes say it's against the law to fire a gun in a residential area for recreation, but it says nothing about backyard gun ranges.
Rouson wanted to modify the law to curb gun ranges in urban and residential settings.
The National Rifle Association, however, said it was a move to prevent firing a gun on private property.
There was no companion bill in the Florida Senate.