DeSantis Wants to Be the GOP’s Most Gun-Friendly Candidate. It Could Cost Him in 2024

  • Governor pushing to ease Florida restrictions on gun ownership
  • Policy popular with base, less so with majority of Americans
Ron DeSantisPhotographer: Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wants to ease restrictions on gun ownership, a stance that exploits a weakness of Donald Trump and shores up support from a key segment of the GOP primary base.

But DeSantis’s moves highlight a dilemma for Republicans in general elections, where their strident support for gun rights threatens to cost them votes with an electorate that backs tougher restrictions after a rise in mass shootings, most recently on the campus of Michigan State University on Monday night.