NewsWatch asked this back on July 4th.

Florida citizen Stanley Eskin asks that question and others in a letter to the Orlando Sentinel today:

Re “Drivers’ quarrel leads to deadly shooting” (July 4): Now that the law is on the books, that a person can keep a gun in his car while the car is parked on his workplace lot, I wonder how many more unfortunate deadly shootings we’ll be reading about in the future?

I ask this after reading about Thomas Thompson shooting and killing David Figueroa over a “mere scratch” on one of the cars’ bumpers.

However, another very important question is how Thompson, who has a “valid concealed weapons permit,” was able to obtain that permit, let alone being able to even own a gun, when he was sentenced to a year’s probation and fined on cocaine possession charges in 1999 and then received the same sentence on the same charges in 2001?

How many similar situations will we be reading about when people out there with as much hidden rage as Thompson do the same thing at any given moment?

All of these are great questions the lawmakers in Tallahassee should have to answer.

Foremost among them: Is the drug-using Mr. Thompson the type of “law-abiding gun owner” the Florida legislature wants walking around with a permit to carry a loaded, concealed handgun?

Should he even be allowed to buy a weapon in the first place?

Florida’s new guns-at-work law lets concealed carry permit-holders like Thompson take their guns to work whether their employer likes it or not.

Thankfully, Walt Disney World, Georgia Pacific, Universal Studios, and the Jacksonville Electric Authority have found exceptions in the law they believe will let them maintain their “no guns” policies, to help keep their staff and property safe.

180-degrees wrong.

In today’s Treasure Coast newspapers, Ms. Martin, of the Heartland Institute, makes the following statements:

There is literally living proof in Florida that its concealed carry and other pro-gun laws save lives.

From 1987, when the concealed carry law was passed, until 2006, murder and non-negligent manslaughter rates in Florida plunged 45 percent, to 6.2 per 100,000 persons from 11.4, according to crime rate statistics compiled annually by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

More people are alive today in Florida thanks to those laws, which kicked off a nationwide trend toward adoption of conceal-carry provisions. Today almost 40 states have followed Florida’s lead.

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There is much mythology woven into her column, which on the surface appears to be supported by the numbers.

It is not.

Ms. Martin made the error of omitting violent crime rate comparisons among states, from the recitation of data about one state.

Knowing this, her thesis collapses when we learn that Florida was either the first or second most violent state in America for the 18 years - eighteen years - after enactment of concealed carry in 1987.

In 2006, Florida fell all the way down to the fourth most violent, preceded by three other concealed carry states of South Carolina, Tennessee and Nevada.

The point is that, while violent crime fell across the country in the 1990’s for a wide variety of reasons, Florida has never been out of the top 5 most violent states in America since concealed carry became law.

As Prof. Steven Levitt concluded in 2004, “Ultimately, there appears to be little basis for believing that concealed weapons laws have had an appreciable impact on crime.”

If that isn’t enough, Florida’s concealed carry permitting system has come under scrutiny in recent months.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported last year that there were 10 times as many criminal concealed carry permit-holders than previously admitted by the state, including those “responsible for assaults, burglaries, sexual battery, drug possession, child molestation — even homicide.�

These recent examples in the news further illustrate how concealed carry permit-holders - in Florida and elsewhere - are often not the “law-abiding gun owners” that the gun lobby, or Maureen Martin, would lead us to believe.

This Montana columnist is a gun owner - no apologies, thank you very much - but he also knows what it means to be a truly “law-abiding” one.

A must-read in today’s Great Falls Tribune:

In mid-June the U.S. Supreme Court decided that we have a right to own and keep guns — even handguns — in our homes. The court was 5-4 in favor of striking down a Washington, D.C. ban on that constitutionally guaranteed right. The ruling suits me.

But bewilderment quickly overshadows my relief since over the last few months here in Great Falls we have had several young people shoot and kill or wound friends:

• July 6: A Great Falls man allegedly shot a friend in the leg as the two drank cough syrup, smoked marijuana and played with firearms.

• June 22: A man allegedly shot and seriously wounded a 23-year-old friend when the two were holding a quick draw contest in an apartment. The shooter told police that he forgot his gun was loaded.

• In May, a decorated veteran of the Iraq conflict allegedly shot and killed a fellow airman while they were “joking around” at a backyard party. The dead man reportedly displayed a knife and offered to shave the shooter; the accused shooter upped the ante by drawing his handgun.

There were other incidents in the state of Montana, but you get the point.

What the heck is going on here?…

…

In Montana, as of last Friday, there were 17,036 valid concealed weapons permits in the Department of Justice system. To get one you have to pay $50 and apply for a permit. The county sheriff issues permits after conducting a background check and requesting proof of some kind of gun training. Let’s hope that number represents the lawful gun toters. Who knows how many people had a clean enough record to buy a handgun but not enough common sense to get fully trained in its operation and how to use it.

It boils down to this: The highest court in the land says we have the right to carry guns and defend ourselves. It’s up to us to act within the law, to avoid escalating a situation by adding the element of a weapon and finally, for the love of God, guns are not toys. Guns seldom make people laugh.

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Taking his lumps and moving on, says E! Online:

… Farina, a former Chicago cop, was busted by LAPD when he attempted to go through a security checkpoint with a .22 caliber pistol. He was initially booked on a felony gun charge after police discovered the gun was unregistered. He was released after posting $35,000 bail and the charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor.

After the incident, Farina later blamed the situation on his “own stupidity.”

“I’ll be spending the next few days kicking my own ass,” he said. “No one is more embarrassed than myself.”

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The list keeps growing.

This report in First Coast News:

The Jacksonville Electric Authority joins other Florida companies in deciding not to allow employees to take guns to work, despite a new law.

Since July 1, gun owners who have a concealed weapons permit are allowed to take guns to work as long as they remain locked in their vehicle. The law does provide for exceptions.

Exceptions spelled out in the law give an out to schools, prisons, nuclear power plants, military facilities and buildings that store explosives. The JEA on the advise [sic] of General Counsel’s Office says the law does not pertain to the public utility company. City attorney Mary Jarrett told First Coast News since the JEA handles “combustible materials” the law does not apply.

Late last month before the law went into effect, a memo was sent to JEA employees telling them that nothing has changed.

William L. Bland, Manager of Security for JEA, in the memo said, “Firearms will continue to prohibited on JEA property.”

The memo goes on to say that JEA employees or contractors doing business with the JEA should not bring guns to any property or have them in their possession.

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