Blog
Culture
Florida: One Million Concealed Carry Holders and Nary a Problem!
Brian McCombie | Dec 17, 2012
Officials in Florida expected that the total number of Sunshine State concealed carry permit holders would exceed one million by the end of 2012.
Doubling since 2007, the number of concealed weapons license holders will top 5 percent of Florida’s 19.1 million residents in a state that is number one nationally in licenses issued, the News Service of Florida reported. Florida has been licensing concealed weapons since 1987, when state officials took over authority from counties that had a patchwork of requirements regarding who could carry and what was needed to qualify for a license.
Clearly it is a popular law and has been taken advantage of by a large number of Floridians who have acted responsibly, said Adam Putnam, commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the agency which oversees the state¹s concealed carry program.
Floridians who are obtaining these licenses are obtaining them for the right reason and are using them in an appropriate way.
Of the two million Florida carry permits issued since 1987, only 0.3 percent have ever been revoked.
License holders are predominantly male and most are over 31 years old, with more than 219,000 at least 65 years old, the News Service of Florida noted. While still a relative minority, representing about 20 percent of all license holders, more than 200,000 women also have licenses to carry.
Safety
Remember this famous quote from President Reagan?
As evidenced by this video, the regularity of unintended consequences can serve as a pretty good sign that a bureaucracy has become bloated.
According to the AAA, "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and gasoline retailers should suspend the sale of E15 gasoline until more is done to protect consumers from the potential for costly auto damage and voided warranties."
When ethanol was first introduced as a gasoline additive (Gasohol) years ago, I recall that there were problems with fuel leaks due to incompatible fuel-line components. This was bad enough in automobiles, but the situation was downright deadly for boat owners. Gasoline vapor is heavier than air and the vapor will sink to the bilge in a boat creating a potential explosion if not detected prior to the vapor contacting a source of ignition, such as when an improperly sealed electric motor starts up. Gasoline is arguably the most hazardous substance that you have on a boat. The hazard is somewhat mitigated with the use of diesel engines, but most cruising sailors still carry gasoline for the dinghy motor; be careful where and how you store it. Anything that threatens the integrity of a fuel line or container needs to be dealt with promptly.
-fl
Safety
Knowing The Variables
We faithfully follow the safety rules that govern the prevention of accidental discharges of our firearms, but there are important rules that apply to an intentional discharge also, the most important one being "Be Sure Of Your Target And What's Beyond It."
When we accurately deliver the bullet to the target, the outcome is generally good, but things can go wrong even then. Bullet pass-through and fragmentation are two things that should be considered when contemplating a shot. The term "know what you are shooting" has more than one meaning; it applies to the bullet as well as the target. Due to their design, high-speed projectiles can behave in a variety of ways, as the following video's show. -fl
Training
Run, Hide, Fight
It is unlikely that most people will get caught up in a mass shooting incident, but situational awareness can be vital and should become a habitual form of discipline. There is a rule for fighting fires that says "never let the fire get between you and the exit." That's good advice for avoiding any kind of potential threat.
A precept for your handling of emergencies says that "you won't rise to the occasion, you'll fall to your level of training."
What is your level of training?
-fl
Culture
Mental Health Issues: A Deadly Threat to Public Safety
Having a gun, and knowing how to use it, is certainly a good way for citizens to protect themselves from psychopaths, but why are some of these psychopaths on the street? Clayton Cramer addresses that question in the following video, and in his book My Brother Ron.
Culture
Shepherding The Flock
- A Principal and his Gun. How Vice Principal Joel Myrick used his handgun to stop the school shooter in Pearl, Mississippi. By Wayne Laugesen. Oct. 1999.
- The Resistance. Teaching common-sense school protection. National Review Online, Oct. 10, 2006.
- Arming teachers is the most realistic way to reduce school shootings. iVoices.org podcast. Oct. 5, 2006. MP3.
- Pretend "Gun-free" School Zones: A Deadly Legal Fiction. 42 Connecticut Law Review 515 (2009).
- "Gun-Free Zones." Wall Street Journal, April 18, 2007. The murders at Virginia Tech University.
- Only press itself can stop copycats. Killers, suicides thrive on publicity given those who perpetrated earlier crimes. Rocky Mountain News/Denver Post, Sept. 23, 2006.