Nothing says the holidays in Florida more than ever-booming gun interest. According to the Department of Law Enforcement, some 23,000 requests for background checks related to gun purchases were processed Thanksgiving week. A normal week averages about 14,000. In fact, Black Friday set a new record–8,300 requests–which was the third-busiest day ever.
In other Gunshine news, barely two weeks after the Florida State library shooting, we’ve sure enough had a bill proposed in the House that would let some people carry concealed weapons on college campuses. It was filed by Sarasota Republican Greg Steube. HB 4005 is also serving as a rallying point for FSU’s Students for Concealed Carry and another bullet pulpit for NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer.
But to be fair, it’s not just Gunshine State ethos, when it comes to guns. More like an ongoing offshoot of “American exceptionalism.” A recent Pew Research Center survey found that–two years removed from the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn.–a majority of Americans say it’s more important to protect Americans’ gun rights than for government to limit access to firearms.