“WTF!”
That should be the societal reaction to those Florida sheriffs–not a majority–that have come out in favor of citizens arming themselves to be the first line of defense in case there is a mass shooting.
“The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” said Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey, who could have been channeling Wayne LaPierre. “It’s more important to have a gun in your hand than a cop on the phone,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who could have been channeling Ted Nugent.
Here’s the reality. No one is against giving the defenseless some offensive fire power. Who, after all, is not in favor of staying alive?
But here’s the issue. The debate is forensically flawed. If you proceed from the premise that a siege is underway and people are dying, then who the hell wouldn’t want the wherewithal to fire back? But the existential reality is that to be prepared for a worst-case scenario, you have to be perpetually prepared. That means movie theaters, holiday parties, concert halls, sports facilities, schools, playgrounds, restaurants, bars, workplaces. Because you never know. Even if an assailant is more likely to be a drunk or a punk.
Most police chiefs and sheriffs get it. Professionally, they’re not in favor of untrained, unidentified, heat-packing good guys creating a chaotic cross fire as their officers and deputies rush to a crime scene. They also know that the law of unintended consequences will never be repealed.
We’ll give the last word to Avery Palmer, who represents the Violence Policy Center in Washington. “Our research shows that private citizens with concealed handguns kill far more innocent victims than criminals,” said Palmer. “When private citizens are encouraged to carry loaded guns wherever they go,” he underscored, “our public spaces become less safe.”
Indeed. Knowing that more than 1.4 million Florida good guys are already licensed to conceal a firearm in public doesn’t feel safer.