Because the National Rifle Association has never met a problem it doesn't think it can solve with more guns, it's backing a bill in Tallahassee that would allow anyone with a clean criminal history to carry a concealed weapon in the event of a riot or natural disaster even if that person doesn't have a permit.
Yes, because if there's one thing riots and hurricane aftermaths need, it's more people with guns!
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The House version of the bill is slated for a floor vote tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Senate version cleared its third committee Tuesday.
The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature has become notorious in recent years for pretty much passing almost anything the NRA wants.
However, the Florida Sheriff's Association is vehemently opposed to the bill.
"To allow people to go into a riot while concealing a gun without a permit is the definition of insanity," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said, according to the Miami Herald. "The bill is crazy. It's absurd."
"This bill is a very narrow, simple, clear bill," sponsor Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen counters in the Orlando Sentinel. "This bill is for people who are lawfully allowed to possess a firearm in their homes to be able to take that firearm with them when they are evacuating in an emergency."
The bill would relax concealed carry restrictions during government-declared states of emergency. However, the bill would not allow people to carry a gun with them into prohibited areas such as hurricane shelters. Supporters aren't quite sure what would happen if people brought their guns with them on the way to a hurricane shelter once they arrived.
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