Thursday, July 27, 2017

Opuscula

Concealed weapons
And “no carry” zones
Do they make sense?

THE OTHER DAY I attended an interesting 2 ½ hour seminar on Florida concealed carry laws. The seminal, given by U.S. Law Shield, was sponsored by the Nexus Shooting in Davie FL.

The seminar was free to Nexus members.

WHILE MOST OF THE information should be known to most people with concealed carry permits, one thing did get my attention.

An attorney contracted by U.S. Law Shield raised the issue of use of a concealed weapon in a “no carry zone.”

In Florida, there are a number of places where weapons are prohibited, including:

Any place of nuisance as defined in s. FS 823.05;
Any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station;
Any detention facility, prison, or jail;
Any courthouse;
Any courtroom, except that nothing in this section would preclude a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or determining who will carry a concealed weapon in his or her courtroom;
Any polling place;
Any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district;
Any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof;
Any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms;
Any elementary or secondary school facility or administration building;
Any career center;
Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose;
Any college or university facility unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or nonlethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile;
The inside of the passenger terminal and sterile area* of any airport, provided that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal, which firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft; or
Any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law.

* The sterile area refers to portions of an airport defined in the airport security program that provides passengers access to boarding aircraft and to which the access generally is controlled by TSA, an aircraft operator, or a foreign air carrier; in other words, past TSA check points.

(The Florida House and Senate have bills (SB 908/HB 803) to consider that would permit holders of concealed carry licenses to in places they currently are prohibited with a few exceptions, e.g., where prohibited by federal law.)

Why allow concealed carry in airports, schools, hospitals, and other places?

Consider is a person with a concealed carry permit had been at

and allowed to have a legally carried weapon and if the person was able to SAFELY (without endangering others) neutralize the assailant how many lives might have been saved and how many injured would not have suffered wounds.

Even with the law banning weapons in the places cited above, a person with a carry permit might have dared to break the law to save lives. Would the person be arrested for carrying in a prohibited area? Probably. Would the person spend time in jail? Possibly.

One thing the U.S. Law Shield presenters made very clear — perhaps to encourage membership — was that if a person shoots another person, even in what is clearly a self defense situation the shooter is going to be arrested.

(My experience in Florida — and I have lived here most of my life — is that if a person is arrested in an obviously self-defense situation, the prosecutor normally does not pursue charges.CAVEAT: Florida is NOT New York or Illinois or California so what is probable in Florida may not be probable in any other state.

Was the course worth my time. Yes.

Did I learn anything new? Yes.

Would I recommend the course? Yes.

Would I BELIEVE everything I was told? No; I’d do my own research.



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