Gosh, to read Mitch’s comment under our Tweet of the Day, you’d think that Trayvon Martin fell off his skateboard and broke his neck. He didn’t. He was (depending on the ‘facts’ recounted and the agenda of the person recounting them) shot during a defensive gun use. And though it didn’t provoke any reaction or command much notice for three or four weeks, it’s now quite the cause celebre. Not that we have to tell you that. Well, most of you anyway. But all of this has been a real boon to our friends in the anti-gun community who can barely contain their glee at having a dead black teen who was shot by someone of a race not his own. For folks like Dan Gross, that’s like Christmas morning, Thanksgiving and the fourth of July all wrapped up together . . .
No matter what the facts may ultimately prove to be, they’re out there spinning furiously, blaming whatever may have happened on America’s evil, permissive, under-regulated gun culture. And the media’s all too willing to pile right on with them. To wit, this morning’s article at bloomberg.com detailing the horrifyingly Frankenstinian free-gun experiment that they’re calling the Gunshine State. You may know it as Florida.
To be fair, the Gunshine State moniker was a quote from Kent Morden, manager at U.S. Pawn & Auto Inc. in Longwood, Florida emphasizing how many Floridians seem to be gun owners these days.
The state of about 19 million has about 6 million gun owners, (Unified Sportsmen of Florida executive director Marion) Hammer said. About 800,000 have concealed-carry permits that allow them to carry hidden firearms, according to Florida Agriculture Department statistics. The agency’s licensing division receives about 360,000 applications each year.
Anyone see a problem?
Turns out there are some freaky deaky things going on down there. Quick, cover the kiddies’ ears…did you know that gun owners don’t have to check their firearms at the capitol door any more? And employees can leave their heaters in their locked cars while at work?
These and other measures have made Florida “among the 10 states with the laxest gun laws, according to a 2011 scorecard from the Brady Campaign, which advocates gun control.” Actually, it’s eleven states, but let’s not pick nits, shall we? Clearly Florida hasn’t been trying hard enough, but we know they can get to number one if they really work at it.
And then they hit us with the money graph:
While the Sunshine State’s violent crime has decreased, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, gun- related fatalities increased 35 percent from 1999 to 2009, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s double the rate of population growth during that time and seven times greater than the national average.
Looks like Micheal C. Bender and Simone Baribeau are guilty of what more than a few here took S.E. Cupp to task for this morning – linking correlation with causation. Oops.