TAMPA, Fla. — Emails suggest that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign made two requests of the Tampa Convention Center, the downtown venue that hosted the governor’s November election night celebration: no guns and no fingers pointing at the campaign for seeking such a prohibition.
In a story first reported by The Washington Post, emails from a Tampa Convention Center employee said that the DeSantis campaign told the Florida Department of Law Enforcement it wanted weapons banned from the downtown Tampa event. The Tampa Bay Times verified those emails in which Chase Finch, safety and security manager at the convention center, also suggested the DeSantis campaign knew the request was politically tricky, given Republicans’ embrace of gun rights.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement “explained that DeSantis/his campaign will not tell their attendees they are not permitted to carry because of the political optics (Republicans being largely in support of 2A and all),” Finch wrote in his email, referencing the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
