http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/25/AR2005042501553.htmlFlorida has a track record as a gun-law trendsetter. In the mid-1980s, the NRA chose Florida to launch a push for "conceal carry" or "right-to-carry" laws, which allow states to issue permits for residents to carry firearms. Democrat Bob Graham, who was then governor, vetoed the measure, but it was resurrected after he left office and was signed in 1987 by Gov. Bob Martinez, a Republican.
The measure was actually to make Florida "shall-issue", i.e. no one who doesn't meet the extremely minimal criteria (essentially, no criminal record) can be denied a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public.
This is one of the big issues of the gun lobby in the US these days. They have succeeded in ramming this kind of bill through the legislatures of most US states, despite the fact that in almost no case was there any detectable mandate for the legislators or governor who got it made into law to do so, or any widespread public demand for it.
http://selectsmart.com/president/Graham.htmlGun Policy: He received 0% rating from the Gun Owners of America, and 90% rating from The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
While a majority of US voters in fact agree with his positions in this area, they aren't single-issue voters like the ones the gun lobby can create and motivate with their dishonest rhetoric.
I do not believe that gun lobby's trained seal voters were the reason why Al Gore "lost" the election. But I do think that handing that lobby one of its iconic bad guys on a plate would probably be unwise.