FLORIDA GUNS
FLORIDA GUNS DIVES DEEP INTO THE SITUATION OF GUNS IN FLORIDA, TAKING A LOOK AT THE HISTORY, THE CULTURE, AND THE ADVOCATES SO WE CAN SEE WHAT THE DEAL IS, AND GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE GOT HERE.
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Guns and Florida go together like palm trees, sand, and art deco hotels. They’ve been here since before anyone can remember and are more numerous than people. It’s clear they are not going anywhere, and, are also a scourge on its citizens. We love them and we hate them, though interestingly, Florida’s gun ownership rate falls around the middle ranked among the 50 states–#24 in the country according to CBS News. Somehow, though, our politics seem to be especially twisted by them. And Florida seems to be especially stained by them in the national psyche.
GUN CULTURE USA: OLD GUNS & THE 2ND AMENDMENT, FROM THE 1500’S TO 1791 TO TODAY
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Ponce De Leon likely brought the first early guns to Florida (and North America) with him in 1513. Those early guns are a far cry from the rifles and handguns of today–and the 500-year history is a tale slow in the making, and arguably as important as any other invention to the development of the state. It’s hard to imagine Florida without them.
The Kentucky long rifles and muskets around at the signing of the Bill of Rights and introduction of the 2nd Amendment in 1791 are what Andrew Jackson used in the First Seminole War in 1817, and were the most modern guns at the time. These progress to the Tommy Guns of the 1920s and the assault rifles of today. Video games take guns to an abstract popularity where it is no longer necessary to even own a gun to enjoy shooting them. Hip-hop culture, westerns, and just about every action movie ever made glamorize guns and inculcate them even further into our culture. But they’ve always been here. No Floridian (or American or citizen of the world) knows of a time when they weren’t. Militias in Florida (past and present), CIA supported Cuban exiles, Columbian Cartels, Al Capone, gangsters, and gangstas all have weapons front and center. Their power is largely centered on their firepower. Florida Guns tracks all of this. |
CURRENT GUNS AND THEIR IMPACT
Memorial in Parkland, FL.
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For many in Florida, and throughout the United States, the mass killing of students at Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School changed everything. But not long before that was the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the airport shooting in Ft. Lauderdale, the Dadeland shooting in Miami in the 1980s–the list is long.
But the totality of these shootings compares differently to the steady flow of shootings in Florida’s poorest neighborhoods. Shootings, deaths, and maimings of young people is color blind in today’s society. Florida gun laws are infamous for their laxity. "Stand your ground" and Trayvon Martin made Florida even more notorious than ever before. Florida Guns is going to take a look at these issues. |
GUN RIGHTS AND THE NRA
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With millions of adherents the NRA is often a central figure in the debate. It’s about strength, power, politics, gun companies, and money. So why can’t the NRA enable citizens to get machine guns, silencers, sawed-off shotguns, and the like?
The National Firearms Act of 1934 and U.S. gun control laws seriously limit the guns and weapons U.S. citizens can own: primarily rifles and handguns. The gun industry is alive and well though. An AR-15 can be had for well under $500 online. Gun shows are packed with dealers, collectors, and enthusiasts. Gun ranges and shops cater to a thriving community of enthusiasts throughout Florida. Florida Gunsbrings these folks to the fore so we can understand where they are coming from. Lobbyists and the NRA are central to the discussion. The "hardening" of schools is also a relatively new topic on the top of people’s minds as well as the insistence that delving into the psychological depths of potential shooter’s minds is better than more gun control. Florida Guns will take a hard look at all of these. |
GUN CONTROL
March for Our Lives in Miami Beach, FL.
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The need for more gun control is generally agreed upon, even amongst the majority of gun owners, and yet is exceedingly difficult to enact into law, with the NRA generally blamed for this dichotomy. "Common sense gun control" is what advocates call what they are proposing, including universal background checks and limiting magazine sizes.
But many believe gun control just doesn’t work and that criminals will get guns no matter what. Florida Guns will dig into these arguments with the experts, students, parents, educators, law enforcement, mental health professionals, and others. |
GOING FORWARD
Lastly, Florida Guns will look to a future of more technological advances, including plastic guns. And presumably more shootings. And hopefully a better dialogue perhaps pushed along a little bit by the film.