TAMPA, Fla. — Despite the fact that it appears likely that the Florida Legislature will not pass a bill aimed at closing the so-called "gun show loophole" this year, the head of the leading gun-control organization in the country says she doesn’t consider it a disappointment.

“This is something that the vast majority of Floridians support," said Shannon Watts, the founder and CEO of Moms Demand Action said on Thursday.“This is going to happen. It might take a couple of election cycles.”

• Moms Demand Action founded in wake of 2012 Sandy Hook shootings
• Watts, a mother of 5, has received death threats since founding group
• NRA points to group being funded by Michael Bloomberg

Watts spoke exclusively to Spectrum Bay News 9 shortly before addressing the Athena Society, the Tampa-based organization that works for women’s equality and career advancement.

Known historically as having one of the most pro-Second Amendment legislatures in the country, Florida lawmakers did pass substantive gun control measures two years ago in the immediate aftermath of the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The Legislature enacted a mandatory three-day waiting period to purchase a firearm, and raised the minimum age to purchase a gun from 18 to 21.

But the Florida Chapter of Moms Demand Action blasted Senate President Bill Galvano last week after he announced that the state Senate would not take up a bill that would have strengthened background checks during the current session.

Citing remarks that Galvano had made last summer to take meaningful action on gun safety following a weekend of gun violence in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio, the group called his announcement not only “disappointing,” but “dangerous for our families and communities.”

Galvano spokesperson, NRA hit back

Those comments sparked a strong response from Galvano spokeswoman Katie Betta, who said it was “very unfortunate to see such an inaccurate and shortsighted statement” directed at the Senate President.

Betta went on to say that Galvano “cannot guarantee passage of a piece of legislation" and later Thursday listed fifteen separate “public safety” bills that she said the Senate would consider in the last week of session.

Among those listed include bills to expand broadband service and to establish a statewide Office of Resiliency.

Moms Demand Action was formed by Watts in December of 2012 after the Sandy Hook shootings.  It’s largely funded by former New York City Mayor and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg. 

We reached out to the NRA’s national headquarters for comment about Watts and Moms Demand Action.

“Mom’s Demand Action does not advocate for the safe and responsible use of firearms, nor do they offer any programs or education materials that advance safety,” said spokesman Lars Delseide. “The group, which is bankrolled by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, spends its every dollar advocating for gun bans and confiscation of firearms – as supported by Bloomberg.”

Florida the NRA's "Petri Dish"?

Watts says her group has been “90 percent successful” in opposing NRA sponsored legislation in recent years, while also helping to get background checks and red-flag laws passed in a number of states.

And she says her group takes credit for holding the Florida Legislature in check when it comes to passing pro-gun bills.

“Florida for a long time has been sort of the NRA’s petri dish, where they would come into the state and pass the worst laws imaginable, and then try to extrapolate those to other states around the country,” she says, citing the 2011 law that restricted what physicians could say to patients about gun ownership. The law was struck down by a federal appeals court in 2017.

“So when we stop bad laws in Florida, it has an impact on states across the country,” Watts explained.

The NRA has traditionally stood in the way of getting gun control bills passed in Congress and in some state legislatures.  But Watts (and other critics) say that the pro Second-Amendment group has never been weaker than over the past year.

The powerful gun rights organization is currently under the investigation by the New York Attorney General related to the group’s payments to board members and campaign finance issues.

Being quiet "not an option"

Since she formed Moms Demand Action, Watts, a mother of five, has received death threats. But Watts says she won’t be deterred in her advocacy.

“The death threats (and) threats of sexual violence to me and my daughters started immediately when I put up a Facebook page that became Moms Demand Action,” she says. “I had to decide early on that would be white noise, that I would not be intimidated or bullied by it."

"The goal is to get me to be quiet," she added. "And given that my children and so many people’s children in this country are at risk – that’s not an option.”