Today's letters: Readers comment on constitutional carry and St. Jude's
Constitutional carry
Gun-control advocates keep making the same predictions of doom and bloodshed from law-abiding citizens having guns for protection. They warn us of pending disaster if Florida becomes the 22nd state to adopt so-called constitutional carry rules that would allow law-abiding adults who legally own a handgun to conceal-carry it without a permit. Thirty-four states already allow open carry without a permit.
Florida and other states faced the same predictions of disaster when they first adopted right-to-carry laws, which now exist in 43 states. None of the dire predictions came true. These predictions occurred again after states adopted constitutional carry, but not a single one of these states has seen the need to reverse the laws.
Much will remain unchanged with constitutional carry. Businesses and private property owners still have the right to exclude guns from their premises. Prohibitions remain in sensitive places, and laws about gun misuse are unchanged. Floridians must still be able to legally own a gun to carry it.
The most significant change from constitutional carry is how quickly people can carry a gun if needed. Right now, it takes up to four months for Florida to issue a concealed handgun permit after someone has met the requirements. If a woman is being stalked or threatened, the harm from that threat may have already occurred well before the four months are up. Under constitutional carry, that woman won’t have to wait for a license.
Gun-control advocates claimed there would be blood in the streets when then-Gov. Bob Martinez signed Florida’s concealed carry law in 1987. That didn’t happen. In fact, several dozen peer-reviewed academic studies show there’s no evidence of any uptick in gun crimes linked to concealed carry laws, and most show violent crime declines. Research also shows that murder rates fall even more when states move to constitutional carry laws.
State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Florida’s 32nd District, and John R. Lott Jr., President, Crime Prevention Research Center
Helping St. Jude
As a teenager, I noticed that my father sent donations to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital regularly.
Later, when I lived close to the hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, I saw children with their parents in a local restaurant. The children obviously were undergoing cancer treatments.
Then I knew my father was so concerned about children that he donated to St. Jude — and so was the famous actor Danny Thomas.
According to the Internet, Thomas, before his fame, was married and his wife was with child. He was worried about future looming hospital bills. But while at church he gave without thought his last $7 in the offering plate. He prayed for help financially, and soon he received an offer for a small acting part that paid seven times what he gave in church. He experienced the power of prayer! Soon his acting career really took off — including a part in a show named "Make Room For Daddy.” But every time his career slowed down he promised to honor God with a shrine to St. Jude.
One thing led to another and in 1962 the Jude Children's Research Hospital was opened in Memphis. At that time only 20% of children survived cancer; since then, with the hospital's research, the survival rate is 80%! The families are not charged, and all expenses are paid by the hospital. The hospital also was the first integrated hospital in the south.
Well, I had better get my donation check in the mail because they just sent me free Christmas address labels! I don't mind because it is a great cause!
Renee Christopher-McPheeters, Lecanto
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Dec. 19 letters: Readers comment on constitutional carry, St. Jude's
