With Democrat Eileen Higgins’ election as the new mayor of Miami, Florida, some in the gun-rights community are throwing up a red flag about her past gun control advocacy.
While those in the so-called “mainstream” media are gushing how Higgins is the first woman mayor and “turned Miami blue,” Gun Owners of America (GOA) are warning that her election raises “public safety and Second Amendment concerns.”
And that warning should definitely be heeded. Higgins is a darling of the gun-ban movement, even spending time and effort volunteering for a well-known gun control organization.
“As a longtime volunteer with Moms Demand Action and as a strong partner in GIFFORDS’s work to build safer communities across the Sunshine State, she’s spent years helping to mobilize Floridians around the need to both support survivors of gun violence coping with tragedy and to bolster the state’s laws to prevent every day gun violence and the mass tragedies that have shaken so many communities to their core,” the gun-ban group Giffords bragged on its website.
As GOA leaders warned in a recent news release, such anti-gun advocacy is not the complete extent of their worries concerning Higgins. During her tenure on the Miami-Dade County Commission, Higgins supported cashless bail policies promoted by anti-gun activists nationwide where cashless bail has been linked to repeat offenses, increased law enforcement strain and public safety concerns.
“She joins other prominent anti-gun mayors, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who have promoted similar policies of limiting the law-abiding public from exercising their Second Amendment rights while prioritizing violent criminal offenders via soft-on-crime policies,” GOA wrote. “Although municipal authority is limited by Florida’s state preemption laws, Higgins’ record indicates she will continue advocating for policies affecting gun rights and law enforcement practices.”
For Luis Valdes, GOA Florida state director, Higgin’s election spells trouble for the safety of Miami citizens.
“As a Miami native and former South Florida law enforcement officer, I believe Eileen Higgins’ record raises serious concerns for Second Amendment rights and public safety,” Valdes said. “The policies she promoted as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner have not prevented crime. Real safety comes from allowing law-abiding citizens to exercise their rights and defend themselves. Her record shows a pattern of focusing on restrictions for responsible gun owners while softening consequences for criminals who commit violent crimes against the law-abiding.”
Speaking for her organization, Alisabet Valdes, national chair of Fuerza 2A, had a similar warning for Miamians.
“Mayor-elect Eileen Higgins’ long history of anti-gun policies has negatively impacted Miami’s Hispanic and other minority communities,” Valdes said. “Policies that restrict the ability of law-abiding citizens—especially women—to protect themselves, while taking a lenient approach toward violent offenders, directly undermine the goals she claims to champion. Gun control measures punish those who follow the law, not the criminals who ignore it.”