Last Updated on June 3, 2022
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed funding for a $35 million training facility meant to be used by the Tampa Bay Rays. The move comes after the MLB team, in conjunction with the New York Yankees, dedicated its Twitter account to anti-gun messages after the Uvalde massacre.
“We all deserve to be safe — in schools, grocery stores, places of worship, our neighborhoods, houses and America. The most recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde have shaken us to the core. The Tampa Bay Rays are mourning these heartbreaking tragedies that took the lives of innocent children and adults,” the team said prior to a game against the Yankees. “This cannot become normal. We cannot become numb. We cannot look the other way. We all know, if nothing changes, nothing changes.”
The team later donated $50,000 to the anti-gun, far-left group “Everytown for Gun Safety” and announced a partnership with the organization to “amplify facts about gun violence in America.”
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
When an assault weapon is used in a mass shooting, it results in six times as many people shot than when other guns are used.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 27, 2022
On Thursday, DeSantis vetoed $3.1 billion in spending as he signed a $109.9 billion budget. Among the cuts were funds that were earmarked toward a youth sports complex that was to be used as a potential Spring Training facility by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Also included in the veto list were $20 million for a pair of state-owned jets and $75 million for an environmental and oceanographic research and training facility at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus, according to The Washington Examiner.
The Tampa Bay Rays move comes just weeks after Governor DeSantis led an effort to strip Disney of its special tax privileges after the entertainment company opposed Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill was quickly passed and later signed by DeSantis.
