Sunday, May 4, 2014

Florida Bill to Allow People to Carry Weapons During Emergencies Appears Dead

Naples news reports

After more than an hour of discussion Thursday, it appeared legislation creating an exemption to state concealed weapons laws during a mandatory evacuation might be dead this legislative session.

The Senate bill (SB 296) allows for those without a permit to carry a concealed weapon when the governor calls for a mandatory state of emergency like a hurricane. An amendment that passed 23-15 limited the exemption to 24 hours after the evacuation is declared.

That didn’t sit well with the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, so he “temporarily postponed” his bill. With just one day left in this year’s legislative session, it means the bill likely won’t pass.

State Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, the amendment’s author, said the underlying bill didn’t give clear enough parameters to when the exemption ended.

“Where I have a little difficulty is the lack of specificity in what your language means,” he said of the amendment, which was written by the Florida Sheriff’s Association.

Brandes said he opposed the amendment because he didn’t want people to get in trouble during the “25th hour.”

4 comments:

  1. Brilliant Idea--walk around in civilian clothes carrying a gun during an emergency.

    Collect your Darwin Award.

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    Replies
    1. You think the government will use the chaos of an emergency as an excuse to go around shooting people, but we should also trust this government implicitly.

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  2. Florida should remove the requirement to have a license to carry. That would solve everything.

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  3. Considering that in Florida, you are required to conceal the handgun and could be prosecuted if its exposed, its unlikely to cause the calamity you foresee. Or are you predicting public areas turning into free fire zones such as what happened during hurricane Katrina,

    "Six days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, members of the city's police department killed two people: 17-year-old James Brissette and 40-year-old Ronald Madison. Four other people were wounded. All victims were unarmed. Madison, a mentally disabled man, was shot in the back. New Orleans police fabricated a cover-up story for their crime, falsely reporting that seven police officers responded to a police dispatch reporting an officer down, and that at least four people were firing weapons at the officers upon their arrival."
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danziger_Bridge_shootings

    There was also arbitrary confiscation of firearms from citizens who had done nothing more than possess them in their own homes for defense during a time when police protection was strained to put it mildly.

    "Controversy arose over a September 8 city-wide order by New Orleans Police Superintendent Eddie Compass to local police, U.S. Army National Guard soldiers, and Deputy U.S. Marshals to confiscate all civilian-held firearms. "No one will be able to be armed," Compass said. "Guns will be taken. Only law enforcement will be allowed to have guns." Seizures were carried out without warrant, and in some cases with excessive force; one instance captured on film involved 58 year old New Orleans resident Patricia Konie. Konie stayed behind, in her well provisioned home, and had an old revolver for protection. A group of police entered the house, and when she refused to surrender her revolver, she was tackled and it was removed by force. Konie's shoulder was fractured, and she was taken into police custody for failing to surrender her firearm."
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_government_response_to_Hurricane_Katrina#Confiscation_of_civilian_firearms

    ReplyDelete